Japanese auto major Honda Motor Corporation (HMC) which has seen sales sagging in the Indian market will introduce an all new diesel engine by the end of the next financial year.
Global CEO HMC Takanobu Ito said in his speech in Tokyo today, “In India, an all-new diesel engine will be adopted sequentially to new models starting inFY2014.In addition to the high fuel efficiency, the cost competitiveness of the all-new diesel engine will be enhanced through local sourcing and local production to make new diesel models more affordable for customers.”
Honda Cars India, which has an all petrol line-up in the country, has seen market share dip over the decade due to increased competition from global players. The company’s lack of diesel engines has added to its woes in the domestic market. Diesel is 31% cheaper than petrol in the country, which has made an increasing number of consumers opt for diesel vehicles over the last one year. According to industry estimates, in the first five months of this financial year, sales of diesel vehicles soared to account for 64% of the passenger vehicle industry in India, while off-take of most petrol driven variants dropped by over 20%.
Between April and August this year, Honda Cars India’s sales have grown by 54% to 29,932 units though the growth has come on a low base. Honda’s operations were severely disrupted for a major part of the last financial year due to the earthquake in Japan and the floods in Thailand.
Globally, Honda is aiming at doubling sales of automobiles to six million units by 2017. As much as half the volumes for the company will come from emerging markets like India and China. To bring in the numbers, apart from the new Fit (Jazz) series, HMC will introduce sedans and small utility vehicles based on the Brio platform, which is the company’s strategic model for Asia.
In the last financial year, Honda Cars India’s sales declined by8.47% to 54,427 vehicles. The company has only recently introduced small car Brio in the Indian market.
