It seems Honda is all set to make it big in the Indian sedan market with the upcoming Honda Amaze. The signals that are appearing from potential consumers of the sedan it seems that the Amaze is set to have a smooth ride in the country. But while the country is gearing up to receive the Amaze sedan, the production company of this car is planning to make its mark in the small car segment as well.
News is filtering in that Honda is preparing to bring in a small car below the Honda Brio hatchback in order to compete against the much popular Hyundai Eon and Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 and Tata Nano. According to Hironori Kanayama, CEO, Honda Cars India, the Indian small car market is strong and will continue to be so in the coming times. Seeing this potential of the market, the company hopes to offer something to the Indian people which will satisfy their needs. But as of now, Honda does not have anything to offer in this segment except the 600cc Kei it offers in Japan. But needs and preference of Indian customers are vastly different from their Japanese counterparts and the Kei may not work in India. So according to Hironori, it will take sometime for Honda to finalize something in this regard. When asked about the engine the small car would have, Kanayama refused to say anything specific and said that everything would depend on the result of the study they are going to carry out on this.
But it is certain that Honda’s foray in this segment will raise a lot of eyebrows which is currently dominated by companies like Maruti Alto 800, Hyundai Eon and Tata Nano. But this decision on part of Honda seems to be a good one since the company is now heavily focussing on local manufacturing as well as local R&D.
