Breaking the stagnant rankings of automobile companies in the country, Honda Cars India has overtaken Tata Motors capturing the third position in the Indian automotive market. The feat comes 19 years after Honda’s entry into the country and has been courtesy of the new diesel powered vehicles, the Amaze and City. The Japanese manufacturer sold 1.34 lakh vehicles in the financial year 2014 (73,182 units in FY2013) witnessing a steep growth of 83.4 percent, superseding Tata Motors and Ford India. The company is now behind Maruti Suzuki which holds the first position, followed by Hyundai.
The introduction of the new 1.5-litre i-DTEC Earth Dreams engine has done wonders for Honda. The engine which first found application under the hood of the Amaze compact sedan, has also found application on the City. The 1.5-litre engine has also turned out to be the most fuel efficient engine in the country returning a fuel efficiency of 26 km/l on the City saloon. Honda’s new engine will also power the upcoming Mobilio MPV slated to launch in the second half of this year and the 2015 Jazz hatchback.
Honda India’s growth spree started with the Amaze in April 2013. In fact the Amaze turned out be the 9th most selling vehicle in the country clocking in 7374 units in the month of March this year. The launch of the fourth generation City on the other hand has been the major sales puller for Honda India. Ever since sales commenced earlier this year, the saloon has surpassed the entire competition in the C-segment sedan space, clocking an average of 9000 units per month. It was after the City’s launch that Honda India overtook Tata Motors for the third position. Honda’s new strategy to concentrate in the lower segments has surely helped the company grow by ten-folds in the country.
With two new products planned for launch later this year, Honda is also contemplating to open its third production plant possibly in Gujarat. The company currently has an annual capacity of 2.4 lakh vehicles from its Tapukara and Greater Noida plants, and is closing in on Hyundai. The gap between both the companies currently is just of one lakh vehicles, in terms of production for the domestic market. The upcoming Mobilio MPV will be produced at the company’s oldest plant in Greater Noida and the Japanese automaker is optimistic of scoring a hat trick with the success of the MPV.
Honda is also working on expanding its dealer base from the current 117 outlets to 230 outlets, with 43 new cities being covered in addition to the present 107. Making a comeback with a bang in the market, Tata Motors is all set to launch the all-new Bolt hatchback and Zest compact sedan models after a gap of five years. Ford too has the Figo based compact sedan planned for a 2015 launch in the domestic market.
