Honda Cars India (HCIL) on Thursday launched its new utility vehicle BR-V, pricing it between ₹8.75 lakh and ₹12.90 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). It is equipped with dual air bags across variants, along with a host of other safety features.

The new vehicle is available in both petrol (1.5-litre i-VTEC) and diesel (1.5-litre i-DTEC) options. While the petrol version is priced between ₹8.75 lakh and ₹11.99 lakh, the diesel variant is ₹9.99 lakh and ₹12.90 lakh (all ex-showroom, Delhi).

“The launch of B-RV (Bold Runabout Vehicle) marks Honda’s entry into the popular compact SUV segment,” said Yoichiro Ueno, President and Chief Executive Officer, HCIL.

BR-V, which will be manufactured at the company’s Tapukara plant, has 210 mm ground clearance and a base cargo area of 223 litres, which can be enhanced to 691 litres if the third row is folded, said Ueno.

The new vehicle has been developed at Honda R&D Asia Pacific, located in Bangkok.

Ueno said the company is confident of achieving better sales despite some challenges.

The company also plans to expand its sales network to 340 dealerships in the current financial year from 298 right now, he said.

On expansion plans, Honda said it is in the process of investing ₹380 crore in the Tapukara plant to increase production capacity to 1.8 lakh units per year from 1.2 lakh units right now.

Asked if Honda has plans to phase out models such as the Mobilio and Brio, which are struggling, Ueno said there are no such plans.

“India is a key market and, as part of our business expansion plan, we are focusing on increasing our customer base with new model introductions,” he said, adding that Honda will introduce the Accord hybrid this year as demand for such technologies is also growing.

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