Upcoming Honda Cars For India; SUVs, New Accord & More

The passenger car industry is witnessing an aggressive competition and Honda, which was the mainstay in this segment wants to make sure that it continues its leadership.

Honda is planning a slew of launches in India and wants to gain the momentum in passenger cars. Some of the models can give its rival a run for its money, let us look at the list.

Honda BR-V

Honda is late to the party and most of the other manufacturers have eaten too much into the pie, however, the BR-V could spoil the party. One of its key feature that is revealed to us is that the Honda BR-V will be the only compact SUV with the 7-seater layout.

Also Read: Upcoming Cars In India: Some Of Them Are Worth It!

Honda's penchant for quality will be the key differentiator among other compact SUV's like Hyundai Creta and Renault Duster - not taking away the credit of quality from Hyundai and Renault, who have created a benchmark in their respective segment.

The Honda BR-V will be powered by 1.5-litre engine in both petrol and diesel models, this engine powers the Honda City, however, it might be tweaked to handle like an SUV for the BR-V.

Expected Launch: May 5, 2016

Expected Price: Rs. 10 to 13 lakh

Honda 2FM (Crossover)

The Honda 2FM crossover will be based on the Jazz platform and will be positioned in between the Jazz and the BR-V. Not much has been known of the specifications of the crossover, however, it will compete with Hyundai Elite i20 Active, Fiat Avventura, Maruti Suzuki S-Cross and Toyota Etios Cross.

Expected Launch: 2017

Expected Price: Rs. 6.5 to 7.5 lakh

Honda 2UA & 2UB

The Indian arm of the Japanese automaker is working on the new generation Brio compact car and Amaze compact sedan and they have been code named 2UA and 2UB respectively. The Brio launched back in 2011 and has not received any changes in the last five years, a facelift has been launched in Indonesia and expect it to be launched in India anytime this year or early next year.

As for the Honda 2UB which is the codename for the Amaze compact sedan is also in the pipeline for the new generation platform. Recently, the facelifted Amaze was launched in April and sales of it good however not great as this segment is currently led by Maruti Swift Dzire. To gain market share in this segment, Honda is working on the new generation Amaze to compete in this market.

Competitors for the Brio are the Maruti Swift, Hyundai Grand i10 and Ford Figo. As for the Amaze compact sedan, Maruti Swift Dzire, Volkswagen Ameo, Hyundai Xcent and Ford Figo Aspire.

Expected Launch: 2018-19

Expected Price:

Brio: Rs. 5 to 6 lakh
Amaze: Rs. 6 to 7 lakh

Honda Accord

The name Honda Accord brings nostalgia to many as it created a benchmark in the industry, however, over a period of time customers have moved away to European manufacturers simply because the cost factor and features they came with.

Honda is working the new generation Honda Accord to bring the brand back to India as it still has a cult following. Not much is known of the specifications of the Accord, we can expect a 2-litre or more engine in the works for India.

Expected Launch: 2018-19

Expected Price: Rs. 20 to 22 lakh

Honda CR-V

India currently has the new CR-V, but it has not given the Japanese manufacturer the sales numbers as the previous model did. One of the reason is the non-availability of the diesel model in CR-V. Some of its rivals like the Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai Santa Fe or even the Ford Endeavour come with diesel models.

Honda is working on the new generation to cut the gap and move into the diesel models like how they did with the Honda City and the Amaze cars.

Expected Launch: 2018-19

Expected Price: Rs. 22 to 24 lakh

Honda will be the second Japanese manufacturer to export one its models from India, one of them being the New Brio to its home market. To achieve better sales and offer competitive pricing to the Indian customers, they will move towards localising parts with 60 to 70 percent of local content.

The Japanese auto major has been slow in responding to the requirements of the Indian customers, they usually tend to be behind by 10 to 11 months and this has really hampered their market share.

With the new generation cars from Honda in the near future, Honda will look to consolidate its position in the passenger car segment and bring back the bang it enjoyed a few years back.