Honda Cars India: Honda looks to drive in six new SUVs in next eight years

Honda Cars India — which restructured its operations after the pandemic and posted a profit for two years in a row — is looking at driving in nearly half a dozen SUVs over the next eight years, starting with the Elevate.

Takuya Tsumura, president of the Indian car-manufacturing unit of Japan’s Honda Motor Co, said the Elevate will be the company’s “strong entry into the booming SUV segment”.

“We have been covering only 10% of the market with our sedans. SUVs now account for more than 40% of the market in India. We feel there is room for this segment to grow further and will be introducing models to strengthen our presence in the country”, he said.

The Elevate will be positioned at the heart of the market and take on the likes of Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Hyryder. Bookings for the Elevate — the price of which is yet to be announced — will begin in July.

Tsumura, who was speaking on the sidelines of the global premiere of the Elevate in the Indian capital on Tuesday, said it has been developed as a global model in Honda’s line-up.

“India is the lead market for production and sales (of the Elevate). It has huge potential for exports. India aims to be a key export hub for the model in future. Overall, we will present five SUV models including Elevate by 2030”, Tsumura said.The renewed focus from the Japanese auto major is coming at a time when the passenger vehicle market here is slated to grow to become the third largest globally over the next few years. India currently features among the top 10 markets for Honda Motor globally and the company expects it will climb up the pecking order in terms of sales contribution with fresh product launches in the SUV segment.Among the new models Honda has planned for the Indian market is a full-electric SUV based on the Elevate, which will be launched in the next three years. The company will simultaneously continue to introduce strong hybrid vehicles here.

“Globally, Honda has already announced plans to target two-thirds of its sales from electric vehicles by 2030 and 100% of its sales from all-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2040,” Tsumura said. “Operations in India will also head in a similar direction. Market by market, the situation may be different to some extent, based on development of requisite infrastructure.”

The company is confident of the growth prospects in the Indian market and expects to accelerate sales post the launch of its midsize SUV in the festive season this year. It expects to grow volumes by 35% in the second half of the fiscal year when it will start sales of the Elevate, he said.

Honda is producing about 120,000-130,000 units annually at its manufacturing facility in Tapukara, Rajasthan. The company said it aims to fully utilise the capacity of 220,000 units as soon as possible.

Honda Cars India’s sales rose 7% to 91,418 units in the last financial year ended March 31. The company has over the past couple of years discontinued models like the CR-V, BR-V, Mobilio, Jazz and Brio. It currently relies on sedans Amaze and City to bring in volumes. It had a market share of 2.4% in FY23, down from 5.44% in FY19.