[Santy19]

Heck! I want Honda to do well in India, I want Honda to bring its global portfolio to India and be great again, currently, Honda is only a shadow of what it could be in India and to some extent globally.

They are losing the tech battle to the Koreans and Chinese, their EV presence is almost Zero worldwide and for some reason, I can't connect with the brand now.

When we think of performance mass market engines worldwide, no one does it better than Honda their K-Series engines have legendary status worldwide, VAG engines are high performance but very unreliable, Toyota engines are reliable but they are very dull, Ford, GM, Stellantis, PSA have their own set of issues, case in being the engines found in Executive Sedans in later 2000s and early 2010s, Toyota, Honda, and Skoda all offered 1.8 ltr engines in corolla, civic and laura respectively, the only engine that ticked all the boxes was the R18 from Honda.

Perfect Honda for me would have 5 engines manufactured in India.
1.0 ltr Turbo
1.2 ltr NA
1.5 ltr NA
1.5 ltr Turbo
1.5 ltr Hybrid

And these Engines would fit into following products.

1. Honda Brio and Honda AMAZE competing with swift/dezire and i10s/Aura of the world, with 1.2 NA as the base engine and 1.0lts turbo in a RS trim….both coupled with 5 speed and 6 speed manual gearboxes respectively and a option to have CVT.
   
   
2. Honda JAZZ with same powertrain as brio, but being a masterclass in packaging and space with added features competing with the premium hatchbacks of the world and going by the market trends, people are willing to buy a 12-14 lac rupee Hatchback, example being i20.
   
   
3. Next would be HONDA W-RV, I want them to invent a new class for it coz its not as big as the Nexons and Brezzas but its also not a Micro SUV, like before it should have the same powertrain as the JAZZ but Honda can choose to give it a Hybrid Power train as seen on CITY E:HEV
   
   
4. Next in line would be our mighty HONDA CITY, this car should define Honda as a brand in India, offering 1.0 turbo and 1.5 NA in the base trim and mid trims and go bonkers with 1.5 ltr Turbo in a RS trim or Type-R trim and Hybrid in E:HEV spec, I would love to see it compete with everything from compact SUVs to Executive Sedans.
   
   
5. Next would be HONDA ELEVATE sharing the same drivetrains as HONDA CITY and defining the compact SUV space in India.
   
6. I would want them to bring in HONDA Z-RV, and it can get 1.5 turbo and 1.5 hybrid powertrain, and compete with Jeep Compass priced upwards of 20lacs, I see no harm in it.
   
   
7. They can use the AMAZE platform and/or the CITY platform and make a 7-seater versions of it reviving Mobilio and/or B-RV nameplate to take on the likes of Ertiga and Carens in the lower and upper spectrum respectively

Further I would want them to have a CKD Line in their manufacturing plants, here they can bring in kits from Japan and offer low volume but aspirational products and use the same engines manufactured in India

Like HONDA CIVIC can come in with 1.5 hybrid and 1.5 turbo engines and be the sedan in 20-30 lac space as there is nothing right now., and in Indian Car Scene very few cars enjoy the fan following like Civic does, and for the unknown, its the only Honda car to have won the ICOTY award.

They can get in Honda C-RV, which can also get CIVIC powertrain or Honda can offer an imported 2.0ltr engine for the same and be the SUV to buy in 35-45 lac range.

They also get in Honda ACCORD and Honda Odessey as Kits from USA with 2.0 ltr Hybrid powertrain and fill out the niche which KIA Carnival is trying to fill and also compete with CAMRY and SUPERBS of the world.

In my ideal world, Honda would also cater to us enthusiasts with a CIVIC Type-R as a CBU from Japan, priced at 49.99 lacs, making it THE sports car under a crore rupees, even if they take losses in each type-r they sell, but the amount of media coverage and publicity amongst enthusiasts they’ll get would be all worth it.

This is my imaginary world, where Honda is ready to invest in India and wants to be amongst the top 3 manufacturers in our country, while we dream of this situation...we can also discuss what they can acutully do in near term and long term to make itself great again.

[M00M]

All said and done, Honda India has the ripe global portfolio to succeed in India.

The Japanese are typically slow in adoption of new technologies and take a tried and test approach however in India they have lost ground due to abrupt practices and lack of clarity.

Skoda India tried to go all out and are faltering too, the brand builders Superb, Octavia and Kodiaq hardly sell and are discontinued and only Slavia and Kushaq are now bread and butter models.

I hope Honda India learns that the moment is ripe for them to strike. '24 is the right opportunity along with '25.

They should bring the Honda Elevate EV in '25.
In the meantime they should launch Honda CRV RS e-HEV in '24 as a direct CBU import in limited numbers.

The future portfolio should be:

Honda Amaze, Honda City, Honda Elevate, Honda CRV, Honda Accord in the interim.

Lets hope they work on this.

[saikishor]

When Honda had global products in their Indian portfolio(10th gen Civic, 5th gen CR-V), nobody really bought them(Accord Hybrid). And now after Honda discontinues those products, people wish Honda brings them back. Lets not bring pricing into the picture as there is not a single CBU which is priced well.

Sigh, as a Honda owner I really want Honda to do well in India. Honda is the only solo Japanese player in the Indian market.

[Santy19]

Originally Posted by saikishor

When Honda had global products in their Indian portfolio(10th gen Civic, 5th gen CR-V), nobody really bought them(Accord Hybrid). And now after Honda discontinues those products, people wish Honda brings them back. Lets not bring pricing into the picture as there is not a single CBU which is priced well.

Sigh, as a Honda owner I really want Honda to do well in India. Honda is the only solo Japanese player in the Indian market.

Yes agreed, but 10th gen CIVIC was a wrong product at wrong time, instead of Civic if it had brought in the Z-RV or any Civic based SUV, it would have surely done better, Further it came with wrong engine and gearbox combo.

Accord failed as it was a hybrid, our market wasn’t ready for it and it came almost 50% premium over Superb, if it had come with K24 or K20 results could have been completely different.

This is way i want them to locally manufacture 1.5 ltr turbo and 1.5 ltr Hybrid, as it would find its ways in variety of cars between 15 lacs - 30lac price range and 1.0ltr Turbo and 1.5 ltr NA under 15lacs making some model-engine combo unique for India

And CBUs can be reserved for ultra low volume cars like odyssey and Accord,

[Santy19]

Originally Posted by M00M

The future portfolio should be:

Honda Amaze, Honda City, Honda Elevate, Honda CRV, Honda Accord in the interim.

Lets hope they work on this.

A Sedan heavy portfolio can be great for brand building but it cannot bring in volumes in India, Thus they would need SUVs or pseudo SUVs based on all their platforms making W-RV, B-RV, Z-RV absolutely necessary.

[IshaanIan]

I think they already have a potent product on their hands they just need to work on placing it in the right category. I’m talking about the Amaze. I believe it is selling quite well even though it is a sedan which as a category has seen decreasing sales in the last 1 decade. All they need to do in my view is create an Amaze based crossover with boxy suv styling. I wouldn’t buy it but I’m sure the entire nation would lap it up.

[DicKy]

Not an enthusiast take, but when Honda decided to not give the 1.5l hybrid in the Elevate, I lost all hope of their revival. Such a plug and play exercise, yet they decided to wait till 2026 to launch an EV version of the Elevate.

Would love to have the new Jazz in the Indian market, but Honda would say it is too expensive for developing markets. And the City hatch that they developed for other Asian markets to replace the Jazz is too long to fit in our sub 4m norms. None of the smaller *R-Vs are going to make it as the Elevate will stretch across segments. But Honda sure can bring back the CR-V with hybrid engines.

Personally hope Honda brings something like the Stepwgn with hybrid engine to India. Also looking forward to how the next gen Amaze turns out. Would love to say that am hoping for Civic or Accord or something outlandish like a Type R or S660. But we know that won't happen ever.

Originally Posted by Santy19

Attachment 2551772

[*]Next in line would be our mighty HONDA CITY, this car should define Honda as a brand in India, offering 1.0 turbo and 1.5 NA in the base trim and mid trims and go bonkers with 1.5 ltr Turbo in a RS trim or Type-R trim and Hybrid in E:HEV spec,
.

I would prefer the 1.5l NA engine over the 1.0 turbo anyday. The 1.0 turbo, while a good engine is just a compliance one. Good replacement for the 1.2l NA, not the 1.5l NA.

By the way, with the VAG twins and Verna offering 1.5l turbos, Honda has no excuse to not offer the 1.5l turbo in the City. Then again, we all know they would never do that.

[prince707]

The first thing Honda needs to do in India is to trust a local guy with its decisions for its India operations. Japanese heads of HCIL have failed miserably in understanding the needs of the Indian market. Honda has everything needed to crack the Indian car market. Still, it is not launching new products (like MPVs, Compact SUVs, affordable entry-level small cars, and premium hatchbacks like Jazz) or offering hybrids and EVs across its range. Moreover, they have kept their Greater Noida production unit idle since COVID-19. States are proactively moving towards promoting fuel-efficient/green vehicles (like UP tax waiver on Strong Hybrids), but Honda despite having the technology, and its reputation for the most reliable cars is not interested in capturing the market. Tsumura San should either start taking interest in the Indian market or pack his bags and go back to Japan and let some able hand run the affairs for Honda in India.

[sk1983]

Honda should launch a Turbo engines and Hybrid engines in their portfolio with the competitive price as soon as possible. I guess this is the sole reason they lose customers to VAG Group, Hyundai, KIA and Toyota.

My wish list portfolio should be Amaze, Compact UV(WR-V), City (Grown-Up in size like Civic), HR-V and CR-V. This portfolio will cover all class of customers and easily achieve more than 12,000 units sales monthly.

[AtrBudu]

Did anyone watch the podcast of Autocar India ?
It was sort of an eye opener.