USPs like rugged design, spacious interiors, ADAS and reliable performance have helped boost sales of Honda Elevate
Entering the highly competitive compact SUV segment is always a challenging proposition for any brand. Especially when bestsellers Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and Maruti Grand Vitara have already grabbed more than 70% market share collectively. Honda Elevate took up the challenge and has passed the test with flying colours.
Honda Elevate 4th best selling compact SUV
Launched earlier this year in September, Honda Elevate has quickly raced ahead of rivals such as Toyota Hyryder, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun, MG Astor and Citroen C3 Aircross. It trails only the Creta, Seltos and Grand Vitara. Share in the compact SUV segment in November was at 10.84%. Getting to double-digit market share in just a few months is a significant achievement.
Honda Elevate has also become one of the fastest to achieve a cumulative sales milestone of 20,000 units. This has come in just 100 days of the SUV’s launch in September. Elevate has also provided a major sales boost for Honda, with a share of more than 50% in overall sales in the last three months. With Elevate, Honda has registered YoY sales growth of 11% during the September-November period.
With an overwhelming response that has surpassed even Honda’s expectations, the company will be looking to achieve newer milestones in the future. Factors working in favour included the festive season and the consumer’s desire to experience something entirely new. As seen with most new launches in the past, the sales are high in the initial months. It remains to be seen if Honda Elevate can maintain its sales momentum in the coming months.
Deciphering Honda Elevate’s success story
Honda has a bold, masculine profile, which instantly draws one’s attention. Some of the key features include a massive and sturdy grille, sleek LED projector headlamps with integrated LED DRLs and turn indicators, sculpted bonnet, roof rail garnish, R17 dual-tone diamond cut alloy wheels, robust rear profile and distinctive LED dual-trails tail lamps. Elevate is available in an exciting range of single tone and dual-tone colour options.
Honda Elevate has Honda Sensing suite that has a range of ADAS features. It includes collision mitigation braking system (CMBS), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist system, lead car departure notification system, road departure mitigation system and auto high beam.
Powering Honda Elevate is a powerful 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine that generates 121 PS of max power and 145 Nm of peak torque. Users can choose a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed CVT automatic transmission. Fuel efficiency is 15.31 km/l with the manual and 16.92 km/l with the CVT.
Honda Elevate is competitively priced at Rs 11 lakh for the base variant. The top-spec variant starts at Rs 16 lakh. Price of the base variant is close to that of best selling compact SUVs. Top-spec Elevate is significantly cheaper, in comparison to respective variants from rival brands. Honda is also targeting export markets with Elevate. India is the first country to produce Elevate for international markets. In the future, Honda will add more new models that will be manufactured in India and exported globally.
