The leading Japanese car maker Honda, which is gearing up to launch its first ever small car ‘Brio’ in the Indian market, will manufacture and sell the car in Indian and Thai markets from next year, as reported in a leading Japanese news paper. According to the news report, Honda will commence the mass production of Brio in Thailand from March 2011, and the Indian production will start by the end of this year.

The report further adds that the new small car, which will be sporting a 1.2L engine, will be exported to the neighboring countries located in the South and Southeast Asia after manufacturing them in India and Thailand. Carrying Honda’s traditional trend ahead, the car will possibly be launched in Petrol version only in both of these markets.

The Honda Brio model will be produced on a common chassis on both of these production sites. However, the model produced in the Thai market will emphasize on fuel economy, in a bid to get tax preferences under a government eco-car plan, says the paper.

The model produced in the Thai market will be having as much as 90 percent local content in it and the company will roll-out the car with a starting price of 400,000 baht in that market. While in India, the Honda Brio will be produced with up to 80 percent local content so that its price can be kept attractive in this highly competitive market. The starting price of this car in India would be Rs 5 lakh, as estimated in the report.

The Brio model is expected to hit the Indian market in the festive season of year 2011. The car will be taking on the likes of Maruti Suzuki Swift, Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo and recently launched Toyota Etios.