The Hindu Business Line : Honda Siel to unveil small car Jazz by 2009

Mr Masahiro Takedagawa, Operating Officer Southwest Asia, Honda Motor Co, & President and CEO of Honda, unveiling Honda Siel `Jazz' Concept car at the 9th Auto Expo in the Capital on Thursday. - Kamal Narang

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 10 Honda Siel Cars India Ltd on Thursday said that it expects to launch its small car, Jazz in India next year. Mr Masahiro Takedagawa, President, Honda Siel said at the ongoing Auto Expo that the company would study the customer feedback on the small car before deciding to launch it in India.

“The Jazz is the most probable candidate to fill the small car space in India,” said Mr Takedagawa. The car will be made in India with 80 per cent parts sourced locally, he said. Honda Siel Cars India is 99.9 per cent owned by Japan’s Honda Motor Co Ltd and 0.1 per cent by Siel Ltd.

The company will use its second car plant in Rajasthan to mark its foray into the high volume compact car segment, which according to estimates dominates overall car sales with a market share of over 75 per cent.

“We will invest Rs 1,000 crore in our Rajasthan plant by the end of 2009. We are setting up both a paint shop and auto shop facility there,” said Mr Takedagawa. Production at the Rajasthan plant starts in 2009.

Mr Takedagawa said Honda Siel is aiming to make 160,000 cars annually in India by the end of 2010. Honda had doubled manufacturing capacity at its first plant near New Delhi to 100,000 units in 2007. “As we increase our production from 100,000 units now to 160,000 by the end of 2010, we will need more dealerships to cater to our customers. We plan to increase the number of dealers from 66 now to 80 by March this year and 100 dealers by March 2009,” Mr Takedagawa said. He said the company is also looking at adding to its current four authorised service and spare parts outlets, but did not elaborate.

Eco-friendly variant

Besides this, Honda Siel will also roll out a more environment-friendly variant of its popular sedan Civic in the next two-three months. “We have decided to launch a 60 per cent fuel efficient Civic Hybrid in India,” Mr Takedagawa said. Hybrid cars would be imported and cost double the current price, he said.

Explaining the rationale of high pricing of the car, Mr Takedagawa said the import duty in the country is over 100 per cent and that would reflect on the pricing. The car runs on a 1.3-litre petrol engine supported by electric motor and is undergoing a homologation test. The company today also launched two-litre Honda CRV at Rs 17.15 lakh. It plans to launch the eighth generation of its premium sedan Accord by middle of this year.

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