Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) has confirmed that a new India-centric SUV is under development. The disclosure was made on the sidelines of the launch event of the facelifted Amaze. While the Japanese carmaker hasn't shared any specific detail about the upcoming utility vehicle, it could be a Hyundai Creta-rivalling 5-seater compact SUV.
Also Read: 5th-Gen Honda City Gets Google Assistant Support
According to reports, the new product development is currently at a very initial stage and could be launched in the second half of 2023. It will be built on a completely new platform, and the brand has codenamed it '31XA'.
In conversation with ET Auto, President & CEO of HCIL, Gaku Nakanishi said- “Last time I said that we were investigating and preparing, but now I can confirm that Honda is the underdevelopment of a new SUV product specially developed for the Indian market since the customers are focusing more on SUVs and its segment share is increasing. Further, the Senior VP & Director for Marketing and Sales at HCIL, Rajesh Goel, said- “Yes, we are late but the SUV market is crowded so it was important to study everything and then develop something to meet customer expectations. We are developing a brand new India-focused SUV.”
As of now, the SUV segment accounts for nearly 35% of the total passenger vehicle (PV) sales. Currently, with almost all the mass-market companies having a presence in the fast-growing compact and mid-sized SUV segment, it will not be so easy for Honda to carve out a niche among the customers. In our opinion, Honda should adopt a unique market approach to grab the buyer's attention, and endeavoring a cost-effective hybrid segment could be a great opportunity for Honda.
Apart from this, Nakanishi has also revealed that the launch of hybrid models for the Indian market has also been shifted to next year. That means the wait of customers for Honda City Hybrid has become longer now. Earlier, it was supposed to be launched by mid-2021. Currently, this hybrid sedan is already available for sale in Thailand and is claimed to return a fuel efficiency of over 27 kmpl. Click here to know about it in detail.
