The Japanese car maker, Honda, has launched its small car Brio fitted with an automatic transmission system. The car is powered by the same 1.2 litre i-VTEC engine with four cylinders that powers the existing model. The engine has been mated with a five-speed automatic gearbox. The car is available in two variants, namely V and S(O). The engine churns out a peak power of about 88 PS at 6000 rpm and 109 Nm of torque at 4500 rpm.
The Honda Brio Automatic is designed in the same way as its manual counterpart and it also doesn’t support any AT badge. The interior also remains quite same expect for the new gearstick and digital readouts for the auto gearbox in the instrument panel. The S version features power windows, integrated audio system and keyless entry. The base auto model also has SRS airbags, ABS with EBD and tilt steering. The Top V version supports sport alloy wheels, dual tone interior fabrics and fog lamps.
The Honda is claiming fuel efficiency of about 16.5 Kmpl with the five speed torque convertor against the 19.4 kmpl with the manual transmission. The Brio automatic S(O) is available at Rs. 5.74 lakhs and Brio Automatic V is available at Rs. 5.99 lakhs. This is approximately Rs. 75,000 more than the current manual transmission model. Honda Brio has also introduced an EX variant for the manual Brio priced at Rs. 4.26 lakhs. (All prices are indicative of Ex-showroom price Delhi).
The Honda Brio automatic will be directly competing with the Hyundai i10 automatic and Maruti A-Star automatic in the tight budget small car segment.
There have been quite speculations about Honda concentrating more on the alternate fuel for their small car and sedan. While the company fitted CNG is available with most of the auto makers, company is still not clearing itself out. The company is also planning push next generation 1.6 litre i-Dtec oil burner for the next Generation City by 2014.There are also expectations of Brio and its sedan version with diesel engine options.
