Honda Cars ups its SUV game with BR-V

It’s raining SUVs in India. Now, Honda Cars India is all set to intensify the competition in the fast-growing SUV segment, which is dominated by the likes of Hyundai and Renault, with the launch of its latest baby, BR-V.

Honda Cars India is confident that with BR-V’s help, the company can build a stronger presence in India and it will scale up sales numbers. In an interaction with Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales), Honda Cars India, Deccan Herald’s Umesh M Avvannavar and Hrithik Kiran Bagade learn what keeps the Japanese car giant driving its way in India.

How has the journey of Honda Cars been in India so far?

Honda has had a good journey in India so far. We have been in India for 2 decades and have established ourselves as a leading premium car manufacturer in India. Since our initial days itself, we have been committed to the market and have come up with products which would suit the Indian customer.

Honda City, introduced in India in 1998, has been our first model in our line-up and has been a front-runner in its segment, year-after-year. The Honda Amaze, introduced in 2013, marked the entry for Honda in the diesel segment. It was a product tailor-made for Indian customers. The sales of more than 2 lakh units of the Amaze only validates its popularity in the market.

The entire model line-up including the Brio, Jazz, Mobilio, CR-V, along with previous models Accord and Civic have reinforced the premium image of the company in India. Talking specifically of the last 4 years, HCIL has grown very rapidly in terms of production capacity, dealership network, and product portfolio, hence ensuring overall growth.

This has also reflected in our sales which were almost 55,000 units in FY2011-12 to almost 200,000 in FY2015-16.

India currently ranks 4th in overall Honda’s global automobile sales after the US, China and Japan. We will continue to expand on all fronts and ensure an overall great customer experience for our consumers.

What are the trends in the SUV segment, where Indian families are concerned? Will SUVs drive the growth of carmakers?

SUVs have been the growth-drivers for the Indian automotive industry in the past fiscal. In fact, in an otherwise sluggish market, the sales of SUVs grew by more than 40% in the last fiscal itself.

India is a dynamic market which has witnessed several trends impacting the market. India was predominantly a small car market. Over the past year or 2, the sales of the entry-level cars have dipped. Compact sedans have had a brilliant run in the recent past. MPVs too have had their glory days before they witnessed a dip in demand. SUVs are now the talk of the town and have helped the market in the past fiscal. With several good products in the category, along with the euphoria around them still going strong, we expect the segment to continue doing well in the near future.

What are your expectations from the new Honda BR-V? How about the level of localisation achieved on the product?

BR-V’s addition into our portfolio will help us build a stronger presence in India, as this will be our offering in the fast-expanding SUV segment. The Honda BR-V is a brilliant package which boasts a bold and sporty stance, best-in-class ground clearance, powerful performance, excellent mileage and highly versatile premium interior with 3-row configuration.

Customers can experience the outstanding appearance of an SUV and benefit from the versatility and comfort of its spacious 3-row interiors. We are confident that BR-V will strongly appeal to the customers and accelerate our growth while strengthening our brand presence in the country. BR-V has very high localisation levels of 94%.

What is the story behind the name BR-V?

BR-V stands for Bold Runabout-Vehicle. We have used the term “Bold” to describe the character of a person, who would be driving this vehicle.

Bold means “being brave or not afraid to start something exciting, challenging and extreme and feeling confident or determined to do something”.

The active and bold character of BR-V will let its customers go anywhere where they want to find new experience with confidence

What is your production capacity? At which plant would the BR-V be manufactured? Please give a break-up of production capacities in different plants. Any plans to enhance production capacity.

The BR-V is being manufactured at the Tapukara plant in Rajasthan. The current combined production capacity of the two plants in Greater Noida and Tapukara is 2,40,000 units annually. Both the plants individually produce 1,20,000 units annually.

The Tapukara plant is having further expansion of its production capacity will be soon enhanced to 1,80,000 units which would take the combined production capacity to 3,00,000 units per annum.

As of today, you have 295 outlets in 188 cities. Any expansion plans on the dealership front?

Dealership expansion is one of our core focus areas. HCIL has added more than 60 dealerships in the last financial year. Our plan is to expand the dealership to 340 by March 2017. The idea is to reach out to more people through these dealerships and provide a holistic experience to our customers.

What are your thoughts on exports?

As of now, we are more focused on the domestic market here. Though we do export from India, the numbers are limited as compared to our domestic sales. We would like to continue with our plan of focusing on domestic sales.
However, if there is a rise in demand for some of the models manufactured in India, we can consider our options.

In 2015-16, Honda reported sales of 192,059 units compared with 189,062 units in 2014-15. What is your overall market share, and how do you view for 2016-17?

The industry is somewhat sluggish at the moment and growth is tough to come by. The automobile industry is facing big challenge and requires clarity on government policies and taxation etc. The industry is also witnessing a very rapid shift in consumer preferences from diesel to petrol and ban on diesel vehicles like in Delhi are affecting the consumer sentiment.

Despite the current challenges, HCIL is confident of positive growth in this fiscal. We have just launched the Honda BR-V which marks Honda’s entry in the very popular compact SUV segment. We will also have the Accord coming during the festival period this year. The response to the new Amaze has also been very good since we launched it in March 2016.

When can we expect the launch of Accord Hybrid?

We are planning to launch Honda Accord Hybrid which will be our flagship model in India, during the festive season this year.


BR-V’s addition into our portfolio will help us build a stronger presence in India, as this will be our offering in the fast-expanding SUV segment.
Jnaneswar Sen
Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales), Honda Cars India