Honda Cars India Limited’s upcoming Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), which is expected to hit the market during the festive season this calendar year, will be a C-Segment product, people familiar with the matter said. While the price of the model could not be ascertained, industry observers reckon that the model would be offered in the range of Rs. 12-21 lakh.
Positioned to take on the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and Volkswagen Taigun, the midsize SUV will be a petrol-driven vehicle, which will be available in both manual and automatic transmission options in five variants in the initial phase, one of the people said on condition of anonymity.
“The SUV will have muscular looks and will be slightly larger in dimensions than the Creta. However, its price could be equal to or could be even less than the Creta,” one of the people, who viewed the model recently, told Moneycontrol.
Honda Cars India has already released the first teaser sketch of the SUV, which will premiere during the summer this year. The model has been designed at Honda R&D Asia Pacific Co Ltd following market surveys in India for people’s changing lifestyle requirements and expectations of their new SUV in terms of design and performance, as stated by HCIL earlier.
A second person told Moneycontrol, “The SUV, which is made specifically for the Indian market, will be based on its GSP platform and will be leveraging on Honda City’s powertrain and transmission. It will be sold in a petrol version initially followed by a strong hybrid version subsequently.”
Kunal Behl, vice president-marketing and sales at Honda Cars India, told Moneycontrol stated that the SUV will be its third volume pillar of the company apart from City and Amaze.
When asked about the price points, positioning and other details, he said: “We are unable to share price points and segment at this moment. We have just introduced a teaser and will step-by-step reveal the product details. What I can tell you is that it will be positioned in the premium segment.” He didn’t confirm whether there will be a hybrid version.
Honda DNA
SUVs with a length ranging between 4,000mm and 4,499mm are classified as C-segment SUVs in India. At present, Hyundai Creta is the market leader in this segment. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Utility Vehicle 1 (UV1) segment, comprising of vehicles having a length in the range of 4,000 to 4,400m and priced at less than Rs 20 lakh, saw sales numbers surging from 320,876 units during April-March FY 2021 to 404,049 units in April-March FY 2022.
When asked to shed some light on the specifications and features of the product, Bahl, without sharing details, said: “With the launch of the SUV, we are strongly going to focus on the basic DNA of Honda on performance, drivability, design, comfort, fun-to-drive element.”
Honda Cars India, which sold 85,609 units in the last financial year, had a minuscule 2.81 percent market share in the domestic passenger vehicle market during FY 2021-22. Though the numbers were a shade higher than 82,074 units sold in FY21, it is less than the 102,016 units sold in FY20 and 183,787 units sold in FY19. During April-February FY23, the company's numbers went up by 7.22 percent to 84,726 units from 79,020 units in the corresponding period the previous year.
Honda Cars India said it was in the middle of restructuring its entire model lineup wherein some models will be discontinued and some reintroduced. It has already announced that it will stop selling the fourth-generation City mid-size sedan, WR-V crossover and Jazz premium hatchback from the end of this month.
“We are now, as a vision for Honda, trying to go for a premium lineup, “Bahl added. When queried about launches beyond the SUV, he Bahl said: “Going forward, we will have one model every year for the mid-term, including an EV (Electric Vehicle).”
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