Honda Beats Tata Motors; Becomes India's Third Largest Car Maker

Honda Cars India, for the first time since its entry into India in 1995, has managed to become the third largest car manufacturer in the country. Honda achieved this significant morale boosting milestone last fiscal by beating Tata Motors. The only companies ahead of Honda are Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

Honda's raise to significance began last year around this time with the launch of the Amaze. The compact sedan performed beautifully in the market, garnering over 20,000 unit sales within a few weeks of its launch. In the last year the Amaze has continued to sell in good numbers, particularly in the diesel variant.

Further helping Honda's growth is the new City sedan, launched at the beginning of the year, with a new diesel engine. The City proved to be an instant hit, not just becoming the best selling car in its segment, but the 7th most popular car in the country behind the Amaze by March end.

At the end of the last fiscal year Honda Cars India had sold 1.33 lakh cars, moving up from being the fifth largest player to become the third largest entity. The company showed even better growth in the overall automobile segment that includes SUVs, cars and MPV, showing a growth of 83 percent by selling 1.34 lakh cars.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president, marketing & sales, at Honda Cars India told FE: "The introduction of the diesel engine has really worked for us. The Amaze helped us enter a new segment where we were not present earlier and the City has got a strong start."

Honda looks to continue its amazing growth this year as well with its two upcoming launches - the Mobilio MPV and the Jazz premium hatchback.

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