Honda Brio Diesel to make a grand entry into the bandwagon of diesel cars in the festive season of Diwali

To make the festive season happier, Honda is all set to launch its first fuel burner, the diesel version of its entry level Brio this Diwali. The car is almost ready and is undergoing various advanced stage testing and benchmarking. Honda for some reasons has not manufactured any diesel powered car so far, and Brio would be its first car in this category. It is very likely that the Brio would have a 1.2 litre i-DTEC power train. Analysts believe that the engine which is a part of Honda’s Earth dreams project would be a three pots unit and would also be available in 1.6 litre variant. The power of the engine is likely to be 70bhp accompanied by a torque of 175Nm. It is also anticipated that a sedan variant of the car would be launched sometime in 2013.

Honda Brio Diesel to make a grand entry into the bandwagon of diesel cars

 

It was earlier expected that Brio would hit the Indian roads by early 2013. However, the new CEO, Mr. Hironori Kanayama, in order to make Honda, one of the leaders of the four wheeler segment in India is determined to make the launch possible this festive season. Reliable sources from the company said that the entire process of development, testing and benchmarking has been accelerated to bring the Brio in the market as soon as possible.

The recent petrol price hike accompanied by high interest rates has resulted in the decline in the sales volumes of gasoline cars. Honda’s topline as well as bottomline models have been badly hit by this price hike as the company does not have any diesel powered car in the market. With the increasing penchant for diesel powered vehicle, the company’s anxiety for an oil burning car in the market is well justified. Other reason behind expediting the production of its diesel variant is that Honda’s Tapukara plant in Rajasthan is lying idle and the company is losing money in its maintenance, especially at a time when the financial condition of the company is not so rosy. Therefore, it becomes particularly important that cars like Brio diesel and City diesel become a hit among the customers so that these idle lying production sites are utilized.

The Brio diesel upon hitting the Indian road will compete with cars like Ford Figo and Beat diesel which are basically small hatchbacks in the entry level diesel car segment. It is expected that the Brio diesel would be priced between Rs 5 lacs and 6.5 lacs.