Honda will bring six new models to India as CKD units; no plan for electric vehicles yet
Honda aims to launch six new cars in India in next three years. The Japanese auto giant has confirmed it at the ongoing Tokyo Motor Show 2017. The brand also cleared that all these six new cars will arrive in domestic market as CKD (Completely Knocked Down) units. This means they will be assembled in the country, but not be locally built.
As Honda earlier clarified that it wants to focus on premium products for Indian market instead of mass market basic models, we can expect the upcoming cars to follow that strategy. The upcoming six models in India will include tenth generation Honda Civic sedan, new CR-V etc.
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The brand is yet tightlipped about the names of the upcoming six models. While initially these will be sold here as CKD units, at later stages we might see the carmaker producing them locally in order to reduce pricing and grab attention of more buyers. So far, with all these new products, Honda is attempting to grab a sizeable chunk of the highly competitive Indian market.
Honda’s president and representative director Takahiro Hachigo has said that the brand currently doesn’t have any plan to introduce any electric vehicle in the country. However, the hybrid models are on card but it is not sure, if any of these six new upcoming cars will be hybrid models. As the car manufacturer says, hybrid models are more sensible and more usable.
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While the Indian government’s strategy to implement Mission EV 2030 across the country is making headlines for quite some time, Honda clears that strategy should depend on what customers can use, but not what government dictates. Despite India not being in Honda’s EV strategy as of now, the brand stated that it aims to electrify 65% of its products by 2030. Around 50% of the cars will receive hybrid powertrain technology, while 15% will be fully electric model and fuel cell powered as well.