Honda BR-V Bows Out of the Indian Car Market

Honda has now discontinued the BR-V in India. Introduced in the country in May 2016. SUV was introduced to take on the likes of other crossovers like the Renault Duster and Hyundai Creta. It was based on the Mobilio, which rivalled the Maruti Ertiga. However, the BR-V failed to woo the buyers. It was practical and wore essential SUV elements, but it missed out on many crucial features. Around the midde of the lifecycle, Honda did add a few features but it failed to generate interest among the SUV buyers.

Also Read - 2020 Honda City to be More Powerful than Even Hyundai Verna 1.0 Turbo.

Honda BR-V was basically the jacked-up version of the Mobilio.

If sales figures are to be considered, Honda sold almost 20,000 copies of the BR-V in the country in 2017. In 2018, the sales dip was registered at around 47% with just 11,563 unit sold. In FY 2020, Honda could only sell 1,959 unit of the BR-V. This 7-seat crossover failed miserably in India, but it does attract a lot of buyers in south-Asian markets like Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The introduction of a facelift in these countries further improved the demand that BR-V enjoys there.

In India, Honda’s current lineup includes Amaze, Jazz, WR-V, City, Civic, and CR-V. Honda is all set to introduce the new-gen City in the country. The India-spe model was to be unveiled on March 17. But due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Honda had to delay the unveiling. The new City will be longer, wider, and lower in comparison to the outgoing car by 109 mm, 53 mm, and 6mm, respectively. It will be sold in just 3 variants – V, VX, and ZX. Also, the car would be the safest one in its segment with a 5-Star ASEAN NCAP crash test rating.

Also Read - All New Honda City Among The Safest In Segment, Bags Full 5-Star Rating from ANCAP.

The new Honda City will be more powerful than the Turbo variant of the Hyundai Verna.

Talking of its powertrain, it will be offered with 2 engine options – 1.5L i-VTEC petrol and 1.5L i-DTEC diesel. These engines will be carried over from the outgoing car. However, the petrol unit will be updated to produce 2 PS more than the current version of the City, bringing the total output to 121 PS. The diesel, on the other hand, will be the same outgoing motor with a peak power and torque output of 100 PS and 200 Nm, respectively. However, it will be updated to comply with the BSVI norms. The petrol variant buyers will get an option to choose between a 5-speed MT and a CVT, while the diesel buyers will get the options to opt between a 6-speed MT and a CVT.