Honda to focus on small-cars in India
Honda Cars India journey as a car manufacturer in India has so far been more about sedans. The Honda City & the Amaze have become the main-stay of their operations, with the Accord being the other sedan that has been part of their portfolio here. Recognizing the fast-evolving nature of Indian car buyers, Honda shall now be focusing on expanding in the small-car segment.
The sub-four metre regulations and other conditions are unique to India mean that small cars account for the larger chunk of the total car sales in the country. The Honda Motor Company (HMC) is now looking to capitalize on the same. Deepening their focus on the small-car segment, the company is going about augmenting their Design & Development capabilities. They recently inaugurated a new R&D facility at their production plant in Greater Noida, UP.
Honda has upped their hiring efforts too, with a new mandate that seeks to identify and rope in new personnel who have their pulse on evolving market needs and can respond to them within a short time-frame. The company is taking a long-term view of things, exuding confidence that buyer demand will continue to remain strong over time. Hedging their bets on the younger set fuelling consumer growth in the future, Honda believes that they are making the right call. Towards this end, Honda will embark upon a portfolio refresh that will see increased preference towards youth-oriented offerings, both in terms of the styling treatment as well as on the engineering front. The compact SUV, the Honda BR-V should be a step in just this direction.
The company is also open to developing entire products that will be in-sync with the requirements of local buyers. Such, India-specific products are likely to be developed by the R&D team being assembled at their new centre, in Greater Noida. Honda would focus their R&D efforts here on developing products for the Indian market. Exports are not the priority at the moment, according to the company.
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