The Hindu Business Line : Entry of more players will strengthen the hybrid car market: Honda

Mumbai, Aug. 6 In spite of the good customer interest it received, the market trend for hybrid cars in India is far from clear, according to Honda, the company which opened the market for such cars in the country by selling 52 units of Civic Hybrid in the first month of its India launch.

Civic Hybrid, Honda’s bestselling green model, has so far sold 2.20 lakh units globally since its launch.

“As hybrid is a completely new concept in India, we do not have any sales targets and are testing customer response to this new technology.

“We feel that at this stage it is difficult to gauge the market,” Mr Jnaneshwar Sen, Vice President, Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India, told Business Line.

“Customers have shown good interest in Civic Hybrid and are coming forward and test driving the car at dealerships. Therefore it meets our objective of letting the technology being experienced by the customers,” he said.

On whether the company could start CKD assembling of Civic Hybrid in India to avoid 110 per cent import duty which puts its price at Rs 21.5 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi) Mr Sen said “we have no such plans.”

He hinted that the company would push for incentives from government for hybrid cars for its green credentials.

“Countries like US and Japan provide subsidy of about $2,000-$3,000 on hybrid vehicles. We are working with SIAM for promotion of such clean and fuel efficient technologies in India,” he said.

The petrol-electric Civic Hybrid boasts of being 47 per cent more fuel efficient than the petrol version.

The manufacturers hope that hybrid technology would appeal to city travellers.

“The internal combustion engine is switched off when the car comes to a stop. This contributes greatly to the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions, particularly in city traffic,” he said.

Toyota, which competes globally with Honda for supremacy in hybrid market, is preparing to introduce Prius Hybrid in India while Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors have declared their intentions to bring out hybrid variants by 2010.

“Entry by other manufacturers will strengthen the market for such cars and will have a positive impact on the environment,” said Mr Sen.

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