Honda to roll out diesel versions of all upcoming cars

Kolkata, April 22 (IANS) Japanese auto maker Honda, which has recently entered India's diesel vehicle segment with the launch of the entry-level sedan Amaze, Monday said it would continue to bring diesel versions of the cars along with petrol which would be rolled out in the next two-three years in the country.

"We bring in the sedan for the dieselisation of the market. We have to go along with the market. And all the models to be launched in the next two-three years will have petrol as well as diesel variants," Honda Siel Cars India Ltd senior vice president Jnaneswar Sen told reporters after launching its new sedan Amaze here.

The auto major has launched the model in both petrol and diesel variants. It will compete directly with market leader Maruti's best selling sedan Swift Dzire, along with Tata Indigo and Toyota Etios.

Honda will roll out four more new models, including a new generation Jazz, a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) and a 7-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in the next three years.

The company will launch the new Jazz in 2014.

On the launch of the new SUV and MPV, Sen said the company was yet to decide when the two models would be rolled out in the country.

"The compact SUV will be on Jazz platform and the 7-seater MPV will be on the current brio platform. We are looking into these two models very closely," he said.

He said the firm's entry into the diesel vehicle segment would give more choice to the customers.

Despite a reduction in the gap between petrol and diesel prices in the country, demands for diesel version cars would still exist, he added.

Currently, the automobile maker's market share in the passenger car segment is 3.9 percent.