In a bid to capitalize on the high demand for diesel run small hatchbacks in the Indian auto market, the Indian unit of Japanese auto giant Honda is planning to launch its Brio hatchback in the diesel version soon. It is to be mentioned here that prices of petrol have been rising sharply since last one year, which in turn has caused a major shift of the buyers towards diesel run variants of the cars.
At present, Japanese auto giant Honda is developing and testing its all new small diesel engine technology - common rail i-DTEC – which will feature in Brio diesel version incorporated with a 1.2L diesel engine. Launch of Honda Brio Diesel will be followed by the introduction of popular sedan Honda City in diesel.
Earlier, Honda was planning to mark debut in the diesel segment of cars in India by 2013, but the high demand in this segment has forced the company to reschedule its plans to year 2012.
Speaking to ET, a company spokesman said, "Honda is committed to bringing its diesel technology to key markets like India. And to ensure that Honda diesel is best suited to local conditions and offers optimum performance levels, Honda is conducting stringent tests at its R&D centers across several locations."
