Honda's SUV Elevate makes global debut in India

With the Elevate, Honda is looking to strengthen its presence in the Indian passenger vehicles (PV) market, where it is currently represented by sedans City and Amaze, and re-enter the fast-growing SUV segment.

When asked whether the all-new Elevate will outnumber City’s volumes in the long run, he maintained, “Sedans account for 10 percent of the total passenger vehicles market and Honda’s participation is restricted in that segment. However, SUVs account for more than 40 percent of new car sales and this segment is growing on a yearly basis. So, in all probability, Elevate will be our biggest volume driver but I cannot give a timeline.”

While sedans City and Amaze are doing well in that 10 per cent of the market, Tsumura said, “On the other hand, in the growing market SUVs are having more than 40 per cent market share and the segment is growing year-on-year. So, having the new SUV will be very important for us as we can participate in 50 per cent of the overall market..."

Like Honda’s other models, Elevate will also be rolled out from HCIL’s Tapukara facility in Rajasthan. The company is looking to ‘heavily indigenise’ the model in order to price it competitively. Elevate will be the first of the five SUVs, including a fully electric model, that the company has planned until 2030.

When asked about the incremental growth it is looking at, Tsumura maintained, "As we are going to get some additional volumes from the Elevate, we are confident of increasing our numbers by more than 35 per cent in the second half of this year.”

Angling for midsize pie

The midsize SUV will be equipped with a 1.5-litre petrol engine with six-speed manual and continuously variable transmission (CVT) options and is based on the fifth-generation City sedan platform. It will be pitted against the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara.

“Honda Elevate will be our third key pillar for the Indian market – after the City and Amaze – and will build our presence in the fast-growing SUV segment,” HCIL Vice-President of Sales and Marketing Kunal Bahl told reporters on the sidelines of the event. “While 40 percent of our sales are derived from tier 1 cities, the remaining 60 percent comes from tier 2 and 3 cities. We anticipate the same from the Elevate SUV.”

Elevate comes with an entire range of active and passive safety technologies such as the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) of Honda Sensing.

Honda is also speculated to launch a hybrid variant of the upcoming SUV though HCIL offered no comment on it. However, the company confirmed that a fully-electric SUV based on the Elevate platform will be launched within three years.

“After consolidating their product portfolio, Honda is making a strong comeback with an SUV in one of the fastest-moving segments of the PV industry. This is a new beginning for the brand and from hereon we do expect new models from Honda with new greener technologies including EVs in the years to come,” stated Puneet Gupta, Auto Analyst at S&P Automotive. He added, “Honda enjoys great brand equity in the market in spite of being silent for a few years.”

HCIL had earlier indicated that it will introduce one new product every year for the next three to five years to raise its market share in the Indian market, which includes an SUV and an EV.  In FY23, Honda produced 1.2 lakh units and is targeting to increase it to 1.7 lakh units by FY25.