Summary
Honda Cars India Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company. HCIL was Honda Siel Cars India Ltd and then the company bought the 3.16 per cent stake of Usha International. Honda now manufactures, markets and promotes all its vehicles in the Indian Territory. In 1995 when Honda had entered India there was a mandate to have an Indian partner and that is when Honda had come in as a joint venture.The Honda City sedan was the first car model launched by the Japanese car maker in India, which is still the best seller in its new-generation avatar.
Indian Operations And Executive Managements
Honda Cars India’s President and CEO is Mr Katsushi Inoue. Honda’s headquarters for India is located in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. At the moment the company’s plants are located in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh and the second one is in Tapukara, Rajasthan. The new plant has an area of 450 acres and this plant at the moment has a capacity of 120,000 units. Honda’s Greater Noida plant has a capacity of 120,000 units as well. At the moment, the company is looking at adding more capacity at its Rajasthan plant as it is three times the size of the Greater Noida plant. The company even has a powertrain manufacturing and assembly set-up as well.
Products And Services
Honda has a strong dealership network in India with more than 220 dealerships in the country. These are present in about 140 cities approximately. The company has even started Auto Terrace, which is the company’s new exchange and pre-owed car division. This is available across all Honda dealerships in the country. The 3S Facility format offers sales, service and spare services to customers at all its service centres. This will help to offer hassle free service for Honda customers.
Environmental Initiatives
Honda was the first car brand in the country to offer a hybrid powered vehicle. The Civic hybrid was way ahead of its time. It failed because of a higher duty rate making it almost double the price of the regular Honda Civic. Honda is now returning to India with its new Accord Hybrid that will make it highly fuel-efficient and kinder to the environment.
Honda has even introduced the CNG variant on the Amaze. This makes it a highly practical vehicle to consider as it will help to reduce the cost and at the same time has lower emissions as well.
Founder And First Car
Honda commenced its India journey in the late 90s with the City. This vehicle was designed in Thailand by a group of young engineers to target young car buyers. This is what the Honda City was about and the company introduced the new City in India as well. This was a runaway success for the brand and since then the company has been highly successful with most of its product range.
The Honda Civic was a great competition to the Toyota Corolla and it took the lead because of its styling, power and the premium factor. This is what made the Honda brand highly successful in India and now it has got the Brio and its other siblings that contribute to the company’s growth in India.
USP
Honda’s strongest selling point is its engine and performance. The i-VTEC technology makes the engine a lot more powerful without any compromise on the fuel efficiency. At the same time, new i-DTEC diesel engines also have a similar reputation. This makes the Honda a brand that is considered by those who need good performance and even have a major consideration for mileage as well.
Then there is the high quality of the products, be it space, features and even the build quality. This is one reason why a lot of buyers consider Honda. The high reliability factor and the hassle free servicing adds on to Honda’s prowess and makes it a successful brand in India.
Resale Value
Honda with its premium badge value enjoys a high resale value for some of its products like the City, Amaze and even the Brio. The higher end models like the Civic, CR-V and the Accord being petrol have seen a reduction in the resale value. So, vehicles under INR 12 lakhs with a Honda tag have one of the highest resale values be it petrol or diesel.
Competition
Honda’s major competition in India includes Toyota, Hyundai and even Maruti Suzuki. The Japanese automaker is a premium car maker and is perceived to be the same. Maruti Suzuki is working towards the same image with the NExa Experience dealerships.
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