The Hindu Business Line : Honda Civic to be launched this year

HONDA Siel Cars India plans to launch the Honda Civic later this year and will price in the Rs 10 lakh-plus segment, a size and price segment where it currently does not have a competing product.

The new eighth-generation Civic is likely to be pitted against the Toyota Corolla and the Skoda Octavia, cars that are already popular in the luxury segment and is likely to be offered with two variants priced in the Rs 11 lakh to Rs 13 lakh price range.

The new Civic was launched in the US market last year and has already won a number of awards, including being voted the Car of the Year at the prestigious Detroit Auto Show 2006 earlier this month.

The car is, however, likely to incorporate some minor modifications to suit Indian tastes and conditions.

These could include features such as tropicalised air-conditioning, a higher ground clearance and strengthened suspension.

The new Civic sedan is likely to be launched with the same 1.8 litre, i-VTEC engine that it is available in the US market.

As part of the plan to include the Civic into the Indian subsidiary's portfolio, the production capacity at Honda Siel Cars India's plant in Greater Noida near here was increased to 50,000 vehicles per annum from 30,000. The increased capacity was commissioned in November last year and involved an additional investment of Rs 150 crore.

Speaking at the preview of the new Civic at the Auto Expo, Mr M Takedagawa, President and CEO of Honda Siel Cars India, said that in addition to the increase in production, in anticipation of the proposed launch of the Civic, the company is also in the process of increasing its dealer and service network in the country to be able to reach out to customers in a number of new cities.

Honda Siel Cars closed 2005 with sales of about 42,000 cars. The company is targeting sales of about 60,000 units during the current year and most of the incremental sales are expected to come from the new luxury model.