Honda bets on new City for growth

The Honda City midsize sedan has been the Japanese automaker’s biggest success story in India. In fact, it was widely used in the Indian National Rally Championship and was driven by top competitors in the country. This speaks volumes about its build quality.

Recently, Honda launched the fifth generation City and the company is positive that the City’s good run will continue.

“The City has been one of the longest running nameplates in the country and is synonymous with Honda in India. There are so many happy customers in India and with the new City, we are trying to take this journey further. This is a very aspirational product and everybody dreams of owning a City at some point in their life,” Rajesh Goel, Senior VP and Director, Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India, told DH following the launch.

“To make the fifth generation City more attractive for customers, we have made it longer, wider and roomier. It is the largest midsize sedan in the country now. It comes with industry-first features like lane watch camera, nine array LED headlamps and several other features. Plus, it comes with what we call Alexa remote voice capability. You can control and interact with your car while sitting at home through Alexa,” he added.

While the City has been Honda’s trump card, the Amaze has had its share of success too. “Amaze BS-VI has been doing very, very well. We started production on June 15. We see very strong traction for the Amaze, including in the rural market. Last year, for example, in states like Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab, it beat the market leader in terms of sales,” he noted.

Honda will continue to produce diesel cars, more so to cater to driving enthusiasts. And the Civic diesel was launched very recently. “Our decision to continue with diesel was taken two or two-and-a-half years ago. We believe that there is a certain segment of customers that buys diesel purely for the exhilaration and peppiness of the engine,” Goel said.

“In India, it will be a mix of petrol and diesel, but we have primarily been a petrol company. Diesel is offered as an option. We have the diesel in the Civic, Amaze, City and WR-V and we intend to continue with that. We will keep watching the demand month on month,” he added.

The current Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a big blow to the automobile industry, which was already struggling. The signs, according to Goel, are mixed. “Covid has not been good for anybody. We had the worst year for the auto industry last fiscal. This year will see further degrowth. It is impossible to predict right now because even though there appears to be some recovery in June and July, whether that is going to continue or not is something we don’t know because there might be lockdowns,” he stated.

“In quarter one, we have had minus 78 per cent for the industry. On a month on month basis, the industry will keep going up slightly. In the festival season, there might be growth and by January or so, on a monthly basis, the industry might see things equalling to or exceeding last year’s levels. But on an all-year basis, as of now, it appears that we might end up on a negative basis this fiscal compared to last fiscal,” he said.

The rising Covid-19 cases is forcing some state governments to have lockdowns. Asked how this affected business, Goel said: “That it is inconvenient is a fact. But whom will you blame Covid-19 on? We have to learn to live with it. Governments have a responsibility to take care of citizens. As corporates, it is our responsibility to ensure that we follow norms. We have to find ways to continue the business in the current circumstances in spite of the limitations.

“In July, we are 60 per cent of daily production of pre-Covid levels. We are monitoring daily parts supply on a daily basis. We don’t have a problem with part supply as of now,” he concluded.