Honda Cars India price hike, diesel sedan and future SUV

With rising inflation being seen in the current economy, there are many auto manufacturers who are facing the brunt of low sales and increased production costs. To add to this, there are many people who are opting for diesel vehicles to combat the rising prices of petrol. Seeing this shift of the mentality of people has forced Honda to take into consideration diesel variants for its Brio and City models.

According to Takanobu Ito, CEO, Honda Motors, a new diesel engine will be outfitted within models manufactured in the year 2013- 14. As the Honda fleet consists of only petrol cars, this change will help ensure some balance within the car market for this brand. Though Honda saw a rise in sales with the launch of the Honda brio, its happiness was short-lived as sales tapered towards the end of august resulting in a 21% decrease.

Good news is that, Honda will be designing a new diesel sedan which will be manufactured on the Brio platform. Apart from this an SUV variant will be launched on the basis of the City to compete against models like the Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport which is yet to be launched. Localized production and manufacturing of these models will help revive the company sales effectively in the long run. In the Indian auto market, Honda Brio, Jazz and City prices are to increase in the range of 0.2% – 2.6% on their current price from 1st October 2012