Honda Cars India is all set to launch 8 new products in the next three years to reach out to a larger section of people and reclaim its lost market share. Of these new cars most of them is likely to be diesel powered led by a 4 cylinder 1.5 litre i-DTEC turbo diesel engine. This powertrain is the reduced version of the 1.6 litre i-DTEC EarthDreams Turbo diesel engine that is housed in the Euro-spec Civic and CR-V models. The most interesting thing about this engine is its capacity of 1.5 litre.
The cars measuring less than 4 metres and housing under 1.2 litre petrol engine or under 1.5 litre petrol engine are charged less excise duty in India. Tapping to this law of the Indian government, Honda has decided to downsize its 1.6 litre i-DTEC engine to 1.5 litre that would power the likes of Brio hatchback; Jazz hatchback and Brio based compact sedans.
This 1.5 litre i-DTEC engine is likely to come in more than one tune, which can be understood from the fact that it will power a good number of models. The first of these cars to house this new engine would be the Brio based compact sedan, which is likely to hit the roads by the mid of 2013. The revamped and completely new Honda City, likely to be launched by the end of 2013, would be the second car to house this 1.5 litre engine.
As the launch of these cars is still far away, Honda, in the mean time, would bring a couple of premium spaced cars like CR-V crossover and the Accord luxury sedan. According to reports, CR-V would hit the road in early 2013, whereas Accord would be launched by the end of 2013. As both these cars would be petrol powered, it would be difficult to make a good number of customers, given the fact that petrol prices are on the boom. However, diesel variant of Brio hatchback and Jazz hatchback is likely to be available in 2014.
Honda is likely to bring a compact multi purpose vehicle (MPV) on Brio Platform in 2014 to compete with the likes of Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. However, the Civic sedan has no mention in Honda's plan for the future. This very fact adds fuel to the rumour of Civic sedan being discontinued in the country.
