In the past six years, Honda, formerly a well-known brand in the Indian auto industry, has battled to hang onto its position. The corporation has been unable to live up to its glories in the Indian market as a result of the strict emission regulations and an older product range. As the Jazz, WR-V, and City 4th generation vehicles are no longer available, Honda is only selling the Amaze and City 5th generation cars on its India website.
In-depth details about Honda suffers in the Indian auto industry, having discontinued nine models in the six years
Nine vehicles have been withdrawn from the Indian market by the firm in the last six years, a record number for a foreign carmaker. This action shows that Honda’s operations in India are not doing well. .In addition to the Accord, Civic, CR-V, BR-V, and Jazz Diesel, Honda discontinued the Brio and Mobilio in 2017. The fourth generation WR-V, Jazz, and City have since been discontinued by the firm in India. It’s unclear whether Honda will be able to turn around its woes in the Indian auto industry despite rumours that the company will launch a new small SUV to compete with models like the Creta and Seltos.
Honda stores have been contacted by Business Insider India to get their opinions on retiring the three automobile types. They claim that the increased RDE standards were the primary reason Honda discontinued the models. Since there is no certainty that the investment will pay off, Honda cannot justify spending the money and resources necessary to modify these older vehicles to comply with the current, strict emissions requirements.
Yet, reports claim that the automaker is getting ready to introduce a new small SUV. Despite this, media reports claim that Honda’s decision to stop producing the three models was motivated by weak demand and sales. Honda Cars India reported domestic sales for the month of February 2023 of 6,086 units, a decrease of 15% from the same month in 2022 when the business sold 7,187 units domestically. Honda’s exports also fell, with the automaker shipping out 973 vehicles in February of this year vs 2,337 in February 2022, a 58 percent decrease.
Also, as Honda battled to increase its presence in the Indian market, the shutdown of the Greater Noida facility contributed to the discontinuance of the Civic and CR-V.
According to several spy photos, Honda is developing a new SUV specifically for the Indian market. This small SUV will face off against the Hyundai Creta. The new SUV will compete against well-known rivals like the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, Volkswagen Taigun, and Skoda Kushaq for prices that are expected to start at roughly 11 lakh (ex-showroom).
