Until a few years back, Honda could do nothing wrong in India. Their models, be it the City, Civic, Accord or CR-V, each of them were top-sellers in their respective segments despite offering less features and being more expensive than competing models. The miserable failure of Jazz and the subsequent decline in sales of all its models ending with the company losing the leadership in every segment that it was present in taught a lesson or two to Honda. Honda has learnt it pretty well and has put it to good use in its new small car, the Brio.
Perhaps for the first time, Honda has launched a model in India with value-for-money pricing that has sent shockwaves across the industry. And the company could not have chosen a better model than the Brio for its new-found aggressive strategy. This is going to be Honda's first entry into the small car segment which accounts for more than 70% of sales in the Indian market. The Brio is launched in four variants - E, S, S(O) and V, priced between 3.95 Lacs to 5.01 Lacs ex-showroom New Delhi.
The Brio, with its modern and funky details, looks pretty similar to the New Small Concept car showcased at the 2010 Delhi Auto Expo. The front end is typical Honda with those small tear-drop shaped headllamps, a thick horizontal chrome strip in the grille and a short hood. There are two prominent lines extending from the top and bottom of the front bumper and moving up across the profile of the car. This is what Honda calls a double triangle. The rear is as funky as it can get with triangular taillamps and the large windscreen doubling up as a tailgate too. The Brio's design is not conventional at all and would be a hit or a miss.
Powered by the same 1.2 liter i-VTEC petrol engine of the Jazz that produces a maximum power of 88 PS @ 6000 rpm and a peak torque of 109 Nm @ 4600 rpm, the Brio would be one sprighty performer. The car can neither be termed feature-rich nor does it lack features and it all boils down to individual requirements. But who cares as long as its priced lower to the Swift, the i10 and even some variants of the Vista. Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata should be really worried now as they know pretty well that Honda's brand image is as strong as ever and the Brio is going to eat into the sales of their models.
Perhaps for the first time, Honda has launched a model in India with value-for-money pricing that has sent shockwaves across the industry. And the company could not have chosen a better model than the Brio for its new-found aggressive strategy. This is going to be Honda's first entry into the small car segment which accounts for more than 70% of sales in the Indian market. The Brio is launched in four variants - E, S, S(O) and V, priced between 3.95 Lacs to 5.01 Lacs ex-showroom New Delhi.
The Brio, with its modern and funky details, looks pretty similar to the New Small Concept car showcased at the 2010 Delhi Auto Expo. The front end is typical Honda with those small tear-drop shaped headllamps, a thick horizontal chrome strip in the grille and a short hood. There are two prominent lines extending from the top and bottom of the front bumper and moving up across the profile of the car. This is what Honda calls a double triangle. The rear is as funky as it can get with triangular taillamps and the large windscreen doubling up as a tailgate too. The Brio's design is not conventional at all and would be a hit or a miss.
Powered by the same 1.2 liter i-VTEC petrol engine of the Jazz that produces a maximum power of 88 PS @ 6000 rpm and a peak torque of 109 Nm @ 4600 rpm, the Brio would be one sprighty performer. The car can neither be termed feature-rich nor does it lack features and it all boils down to individual requirements. But who cares as long as its priced lower to the Swift, the i10 and even some variants of the Vista. Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata should be really worried now as they know pretty well that Honda's brand image is as strong as ever and the Brio is going to eat into the sales of their models.
Brio is very competitively priced..
ReplyDeleteRightly said. To be frank, we did not expect Honda to price the Brio so competitively..
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