Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL) declared that it is exporting its hatchback car Brio to the South African markets. There are plans that 1,600 units of the car will be shipped to South Africa by the end of this fiscal. The maiden lot of 390 units have been already exported.
"Honda Brio is the first car to be exported to South Africa by HCIL and today's consignment is a significant milestone in our journey. We are planning to export more than 1,600 units of Brio to South Africa and Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries by March 2013," President and Chief Executive Officer of HCI, Mr. Hironori Kanayama said. SADC countries include Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius and Seychelles.
In the last 14 years, the company has exported as many as 1,028 cars, which include City, Jazz and Accord, to the SADC countries. Brio is the latest addition to Honda's exports. Brio has been pretty successful in Indian markets and Honda plans to launch Brio sedan in Indian next year. Before that, Honda sedan is expected to be launched in Chinese and Thai markets. All these things point out to the fact that Honda is relying in a great way on this hatchback car.
“The expansion of Honda’s export business is the first step towards developing India as another hub for export of certain models,” Kanayama commented, also stating that the export model is not very different from the model manufactured and sold in India. However, there are some minor customisations to abide by local regulations.
