Reference Auto

Sometime about a year back, Honda had launched a new version of India’s most expensive hatchback, the Jazz, calling it the Jazz X while pricing it substantially higher than the existing models with recently the car major slashing the price of the Jazz as well as the City, and now, it is slowly getting a real feel of the Indian market with the launch of its compact hatchback, the Brio, the price of which begins from Rs 3.95 lakh and goes up to Rs 5.1 lakh.

Honda, despite having the best cars in the world, could not connect with the Indian customers, who see price as a major factor while distinguishing products.

This marketing shortsightedness had cost Honda dear with overall sales dwindling substantially, especially in the wake of a severe auto sector slowdown in India.

Last year, overall car sales in the country surged 30 per cent but Honda’s overall sales saw a negative growth of about 5 per cent.

The Brio is propelled by a four cylinder 1.2-litre i-VTEC engine that can produce maximum output of 88 PS @ 6,000 rpm and torque of 109 Nm (11.2 kg-m) @ 4,600 rpm.

It offers a fuel economy of 18.4 km to a litre. This is above average so far as petrol cars go. Interior space is adequate in accordance with Honda’s principle of minimum space for motors, maximum space for passengers.

The Brio comes in 5-speed manual transmission with optimized gear ratios, which has excellent low rpm acceleration and smooth high rpm performance, giving excellent fuel economy and nimble performance that makes driving a real pleasure.

The Brio will vie in the market with the likes of the i10, i20, Skoda Fabia, Maruti’s Swift and Wagon R, Ford Figo and Chevrolet Beat.

Localisation of the car is almost 80 per cent. Honda will have to do some aggressive marketing if it wants to compete and be among the top few companies (in the medium term) in this overcrowded compact hatchback market.

Honda’s sales are waning and the company has pinned hopes on the Brio to revive sales as well as earnings.

The situation was such that Honda had to cut prices of the City by nearly Rs 70,000 and the Jazz by over Rs 1.5 lakh in a bid to revive sales.

As of now, the Brio will come only in the petrol version and this could deter some buyers from picking up the Brio even though the timing of launch ahead of the festive season has been near perfect.

The Brio comes with a two-year or 40,000-km warranty as standard value, which is attractive.

Honda, which is not an expert so far as diesel cars go, isn’t planning a diesel variant in the short to medium term. It may take over a year for a diesel variant to roll out.

“The Brio has made us foray into the big-volume compact segment,” said Takashi Nagai, president and chief executive of Honda Siel Cars India.

He was tightlipped about impact of Honda’s earnings after the price cuts were implemented.

Honda now seems to be opting for volume push even though it could hit margins.

As a start, Honda is upbeat that the Brio’s sales could touch or just surpass that of the City.

But had Honda priced the Brio a notch lower, say around Rs 3.70 lakh for the base model, the move could have gone a long way in revving up the Brio’s sales as it would have been cheaper than most of its peers even though the Rs 3.95 lakh price tag seems okay.