We informed you earlier that Honda is developing two new SUVs – a sub-4 meter SUV and a mid-sized SUV for the Indian market.
The compact SUV was planned to be introduced by 2022 to rival the likes of the Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Tata Nexon, Maruti Brezza and others. However, a new media report claims that the Honda compact SUV won’t be introduced in our market.
The company has dropped plans to launch a sub-compact SUV, as this segment is already crowded with close to 10-11 models. Instead, Honda will bring a new mid-sized SUV in the Indian market in 2023.
The mid-sized SUV segment has only 4 serious players and is far less crowded compared to the compact SUV segment. Honda believes that it is easier to enter the mid-sized SUV segment.
The new Honda mid-sized SUV will be based on the City platform, which will help the brand to achieve increases level of local content and a lower cost structure. Codenamed 31XA, the new mid-sized SUV is internally called the Honda S-SUV. It is likely to be similar to the production version of the Honda N7X concept SUV.
It is expected that the Honda S-SUV could be offered in two seating layouts – a 5-seater and a 7-seater. The 5-seater model will be positioned against the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, MG Hector and the Tata Harrier. On the other hand, the 7-seater SUV will rival the Hyundai Alcazar, Tata Safari and the MG Hector Plus.
It is early to comment whether Honda will bring the N7X concept based 3-row SUV in India. This SUV is scheduled to be launched in Indonesia in August 2021. Honda Cars India has recently registered the “Elevate” name in India.
The Honda Elevate could be the name of the production-spec 3-row SUV in India. However, the Japanese brand is yet to make an official announcement on the same.
The report claims that Honda plans to sell around 40,000 S-SUVs a year in India. The company aims to achieve over 90% of localisation levels to price it competitively against the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos.
The SUV is likely to share the 1.5L petrol and 1.5L diesel engines, CVT gearbox and suspension set-up with the City sedan. To further save costs, the S-SUV could use the BR-V’s older electrical and electronic architecture.
