Kolkata: Honda will enter the compact sports utility segment with a made SUV who will take Hyundai Creta rivals, Kia Seltos, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun, Nissan Kicks and Astor MG which was immediately launched.
Japanese car makers will also launch a hybrid car in the next financial year.
The source said it tended to be a hybrid version of the popular sedan city.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of a fresh compact sedan, Amaze, Honda Cars India (Honda) Vice President and Director (Sales & Marketing) Rajesh Goel confirmed the development of Indian special SUVs.
Announcing the development of a new SUV to plug in the gap in the Indian portfolio, Goel admitted that even though Honda has positioned the WR-V crossover as a SUV, the customer did not see it into one.
CR-V, the most popular SUV globally, has been withdrawn from the Indian market.
With a SUV consisting of 32% of the total car sales, his absence in Honda’s line-up has hurt the company for a while.
Honda also does not have a hatchback and mainly depends on the city and stunning sedans, which are 50% and 30% of its sales respectively.
WR-V at 12% and Jazz at 8% made the rest.
In the 2019 pandemic, Honda sold 70,593 units, down from 1,02,016 units sold in 2020.
In the first half of this year, the HD50 has sold 43,617 units.
Goel said the company hopes to achieve a two-digit growth with a refreshed opening launch.
“We will also increase the use of factory capacity from 30% to 70% through exports, including the city for the left hand drive market too,” he said, Honda will bring hybrids next year, the precursor of electric vehicle recognition, GOEL added.
Even though he did not describe, the source said the city hybrid variant would be launched by the company next year.
Honda prepares SUVs, hybrid sedans for the Indian market
