Honda mulling Brand Acura for India?

Most big Japanese car makers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan concentrate primarily on the mass market. These car makers also have products aimed at the luxury end of the car market through separate brands. While Toyota has Lexus, arguably the best known Japanese luxury brand in the Indian car market's private import segment, Nissan plays host to Infiniti while Honda has Acura in its fold.

According to a quote from Hironori Kanayama - the CEO of Honda Cars India - speaking to AutocarIndia, the Japanese car maker is considering the Acura luxury label for the Indian car market in the times to come. Born in 1986, the Acura label is well established in the United States and Canada. The brand also has a presence in Hong Kong, China and Mexico. However, Honda does not sells cars with the Acura badge in its home market of Japan. 

Honda is said to be considering the RLX sedan and the MDX SUV for the Indian market. With Brand Acura not having a single turbo diesel engined car in its line up, it remains to see how it copes in India with an all-petrol line up. Luxury car buyers in India overwhelmingly opt for turbo diesel engined cars over petrol versions. This makes it imperative for car makers to offer turbo diesel engine options in the luxury car space. 

Developing a new turbo diesel engine for Acura cars to be sold in India might not make much of a sense in economic terms as the volumes in India may not be high enough to justify such an investment. Also, CBU imports and the associated steep import duties are likely to make Acuras more expensive than equivalent German luxury cars, something that the brand can ill afford here. So, Acura will have to resort to assembly through the completely knocked down (CKD) kit route if it intends to price its cars affordably.

Toyota, which was considering the relatively well known Lexus brand for India, has put plans on the back burner citing a slowing down market and high import duties. Nissan India continues to sit on the fence with respect to the Infiniti range of luxury cars. Taking these factors and circumstances under consideration, it might be a while before Honda actually brings the Acura brand to India. Until then, Indian car buyers will have to largely rely on European and English brands for budgets north of 30 lakh rupees.