With the
newly launched Honda Jazz at a starting price of Rs 5.30 lakh (ex showroom
Delhi), Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) has
finally put together a battery of right products at the right price for the
Indian market which they hope will fetch them increased sales. HCIL sold
approximately 197460 units (including exports) according to SIAM data for the
financial year 2014-15.
With an
increased production capacity in the country, the company is now hopeful of
selling around 300,000 units by 2016. Katsushi Inoue, President and CEO of HCIL
stated at the Jazz launch in New Delhi that they want to sell 300,000 units in
the next financial year with the principle “Quality with Quantity”.
HCIL had till
recently in its portfolio the Brio, Amaze, City and Mobilio (this MPV was
launched in July 2014). Now with the new Jazz being added, the sales numbers
are bound to increase for HCIL.
With the
launch of the 3rd generation of the Honda Jazz in India, Honda
claims they have set a target for themselves to deliver products of high
standard in order to become the most trusted brand in India.
Noriaki Abe,
President and Director, Asian Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said they want to achieve it
by “increasing capacity, importing and exporting”. He said that India is the 4th
largest market for Honda after US, China and Japan and believes that India has
a high potential for future growth. Around 30pc of the company’s sales in the
Asia & Oceania region come from India.
In the2014-15
financial year, the company sold 660,000 cars in Asia and Oceania region, registering
a 19pc growth for Honda in the region, all thanks to the City, Mobilio and the
Jazz. With all of their plants in India running at full capacity and a total
investment of Rs. 3,000cr since their entry into India all the way up to 2013, Honda
has recently invested Rs. 380cr further into their Tapukara plant in Rajasthan.
The investment will increase the capacity of the plant to produce 60,000 more
units from the facility. By 2016, Honda will have a total installed capacity to
produce 300,000 units per annum in India and sell 1.4 million units by 2017 in
the region.
Honda has
also stated that the companies R&D team has been working with their
suppliers which has helped them to achieve 95pc localisation of the 3rd
generation Jazz. The CVT transmission is a component that is being imported
from Indonesia.
When the
company last brought the Jazz hatchback into India, the company sold 23,000
units. To be able to reach the customers more efficiently, Honda has a
dealership network already set up with 240 dealers in 157 cities across the
country. Inoue said that the company will increase the dealership network to
300 dealers in 200 cities.
Though the
company denied working on a small car, it has hinted of an “Import” and has
mentioned getting more cars into their portfolio. It is believed that some
exciting Hondas are on their way like the Accord with a hybrid powertrain.
Globally,
Honda has sold 5.5 million Jazz cars across 75 countries and has sold 600,000
units of the 3rd generation of the Jazz in 40 countries the car has
already been launched in.
With a diesel
engine on offer now, along with a powerful and reputed petrol engine in
addition to a CVT Automatic transmission on offer, the new Jazz seems extremely
appealing considering the taste of Indian buyers. What’s even better is that it
also comes in Orange.