Honda Cars India is upbeat about the prospects for its Elevate SUV with Takuya Tsumura, President and CEO, reiterating that the company is committed to being part of a long horse race in the market.
The goal, according to him, is to keep Honda’s legacy of nearly three decades going strong. During the post-launch function of the Elevate in New Delhi, Tsumura told this writer that while people have been saying that Honda has been late to the party, the company has had time to study competition and provide a package that customers actually need.
With Honda’s own experience of the SUV market with the CR-V, he said the Elevate now offers affordable features which are needed in the market. It starts at an introductory price of INR 10.99 lakh, ex-showroom, going up to INR 15.99 lakh.
From Honda’s point of view, City still remains its flagship brand with the CEO insisting that the premium sedan will always remain relevant. While the mid-size sedan market is barely 10-11% of the total industry, City continues to be a big draw and the longest running nameplate in the industry.
According to Tsumura, this was borne out during the time Elevate was showcased to customers at dealerships and people still preferred to stick to City because of its legacy. The other brand, Amaze, continues to clock brisk numbers and was the top brand last fiscal when Honda reported a total sales tally of 91,418 units.
Getting Ready
Kunal Behl, Vice President, Marketing and Sales, said the company was looking at 35% growth in the second half of this year and is getting future- ready by way of revamping its outlets and increasing daily production from 540 units to 660 units. Exports will account for 20% of this output.
Even though Elevate is expected to take over as the best selling model, given the size of the compact SUV segment, Behl reiterated that all three Honda brands will remain volume pillars. Nearly 35-40% of bookings are from loyalist customers while 60% are for the top trims and 65% for CVT options.
Interestingly while CVT is being offered in the second variant, Honda Sensing, the ADAS level 2 technology, comes with the top trim ZX variant which is priced at INR 15.99 lakh. Behl said the company’s survey showed that ADAS was a very specific requirement in the market, a view echoed by the Maruti Suzuki management on its reasons for not offering this feature in Invicto.
Going Electric
Honda globally is targeting two-thirds of sales coming from EVs including hybrids. In line with this strategy, it has offered an entry level hybrid option in the City’s latest facelift for India. In the case of Elevate, said Tsumura, it proposes to introduce a BEV (battery electric vehicle) model of the same category in the next three years. While the carmaker is looking at offering more hybrid models, the Centre’s focus on electrification has perhaps prompted it to opt for BEVs.
Munetsugu Kaneko, Large Project Leader, Honda Elevate Honda R&D Asia Pacific Co, had said during its unveiling that India was a key part of this vision plan. This explains why the development of the BEV based on the Elevate was relevant. The City e:HEV comprises about 15% of total sales and will move to electric by the end of the decade.
“Depending upon the multiple unknown factors in terms of the power infrastructure, technology — we’re talking about FCVs and other future fuels — there are so many uncertainties but the direction is in place,” said Kaneko.
Honda intends to increase its ratio of electric and fuel cell electric vehicles to 100% globally by 2040. By the end of this decade, it is targeting production of over two million EVs annually, which will translate into 40% sales, going up to 80% by 2035.
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