Honda to bring diesel engined cars to India: Official Word Emerges!

Sure would be nice to see a Diesel from Honda come to North America....
Honda SIEL seems to be on a resurgence of sorts. First we had superb product repositioning strategies with the Honda City Sedan and Honda Jazz Hatchback seeing big price drops on account of what Honda would like us to believe, increased localization which has led to massive cost savings. Then came the superbly priced Honda Brio, which at a starting price of INR 3.95 Lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi has all the trappings of being a best seller. Now, Honda has just come out with the most important of announcements yet, of that of Honda bringing in diesel engines for its Indian line up.

While this isn’t exactly something we hadn’t reported earlier, Honda SIEL officials openly speaking about diesel engines for Honda cars in India only means that Brand Honda is going all out to ensure that it manages to stay relevant in the Indian market by adapting itself to the growing trend of diesel engined cars outselling petrol engined cars in India owing to high petrol prices and the big difference in pricing between petrol and diesel fuel. Currently, Honda sells six models in India, the Brio, the Jazz, the City, the Civic, the CR-V and the Accord.

Of these cars, European variants of the Civic, CR-V and Accord already feature powerful and frugal common rail, turbo diesel engines. So, only three of Honda’s six cars in India actually need brand new diesel engines developed from scratch. For the record, Honda has already begun development of diesel engines on a war footing with engineers from Honda’s former F1 program actually being involved in this high stakes project. Hence, it is just a matter of time before Honda comes up with small capacity diesel engines for its Indian bread-and-butter product line up, although the firm remains tight lipped about when exactly the new small capacity diesel engines will be available.

Meanwhile, here’s official word emerging about Honda’s diesel engined car model plans for the Indian market, from Mr Jnaneswar Sen, Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) HSCI.

The Research and Development team in Japan is developing diesel engines. It is premature to say that the products will be rolled out on diesel (platform).

Source;
http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/honda-bring-diesel-engined-cars-india-official-word-emerges-49690/

Honda reveals finer points about upcoming European Civic

Further details of 2012 Honda Civic model have been revealed. Details which will give us an insight into what to expect from the diesel powered Honda Civic, which is expected to be in dealer's showrooms by early 2012, were revealed by Honda earlier this week.



Honda Civic is said to possess a 2.2 liter, i-DTEC four cylinder engine with 147 bhp and 184 Nm torque. Highly fuel efficient, as the engine delivers 15% more mileage, this new Honda Civic is also said to reduce CO2 emissions to 110 g/km, both of which together will make this Civic very popular.



Honda is expected to launch its new Civic at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year. This car which is developed specifically for European markets will be a five door hatchback promising excellent performance and low fuel consumption.



Careful attention has been laid on details and concentration on aerodynamics through extensive wind tunnel testing to lessen drag and improve high speed stability seems to be what the company has laid stress on while designing 2012 Honda Civic.



Source;

http://www.rushlane.com/honda-reveals-finer-points-about-upcoming-european-civic-1219075.html

Honda finally wakes up – Honda City to come in a Diesel Variant by 2013-14

This will not be for the North American market, the Honda City is a vehicle that would go between the Honda FIT and the Civic and is available predomininatly in India. However, with Honda now having a 2nd diesel engine in their 'repetoire', some day (wishfull thinking) we may see a diesel Honda here!
Late Latif and prone to mistakes, Honda (well, you know. Look at the Honda Jazz) has finally had to face reality. With competition in the segment it has dominated since the last few years getting more and more stiff, Honda has decided to finally power its segment winner with a diesel mill.

Honda had already started seeing a decline in sales of the City with the launch of Volkswagen’s Vento. Analysts say that Honda’s sales figures with the City would have been much higher in the previous two booming sales years had a diesel option been made available to the buyer. Lately with the launch of Maruti Suzuki’s Diesel, Ford’s new Fiesta, Hyundai’s 2011 Verna, the upcoming Nissan Sunny and the more up-market Renault Fluence, the segment stands to be even more competitive.

And with the onset of a decline sales year and the VW Vento making the top spot and as the proverbial final straw, Honda has stated that they will make available a diesel Honda City to the public soon and by soon we mean 2013-14, by which time a lot more of the market would also have gone.

According to sources, Honda has said that they are preparing to develop a diesel engine to power the Honda City in the Indian auto industry very soon. Honda will be developing a new diesel engine in the range of 1.4L-1.6L according to what will fit the Honda City best
.
Mr. Janeshwar Sen, Marketing & Sales, Senior VP, Honda Motors India, stated, “We are developing a diesel engine in Japan to power City. It could take us more than two years. The rapid dieselisation of the market has happened only in the last one year, since the price difference between diesel and petrol has gone up from Rs 10 to Rs 21. We had to prioritize our efforts to be a big brand with big volumes, which will come from the Honda Brio. We believe we make the best engines and, therefore, there is no question of importing. Till then, we will continue to dominate the petrol segment.”

Source;
http://www.motoism.com/20110515440/latest/honda-finally-wakes-up-honda-city-to-come-in-a-diesel-variant-by-2013-14.html

Honda UK: Honda Planning Small Diesel Car

More diesel news, but not for us in North America.... Eco-conscious Car Finance buyers will no doubt by happy to hear that HONDA has confirmed the company's plans to launch a car with a smaller diesel engine to place it in a better position to compete with European car manufacturers. David Hodgetts, Managing Director of Honda UK, told Fleet News in an interview that the company plans to introduce the new engine about a year after the launch of the next-generation Civic model. The possibility also exists that it will be available in some Honda Jazz and Honda Accord models. Honda initially started offering cars with diesel engines in 2004 when they launched an Accord powered by a diesel engine. Subsequently, they also introduced a diesel-powered Civic and a CR-V. The original 2.2 litre 140 i-CTDi engine was used in the CR-V up to 2007 when it was replaced with the new i-DTEC engine delivering 150 bhp. The diesel Accord also switched to this engine in 2008. Honda's competitors were, however, able to attract more business because they offered a wider range of diesel engines. The smaller diesels offered by many European manufacturers allowed them to offer cheaper models aimed at the car finance market, while Honda could only compete in the upper end of the market. The new diesel-powered Honda Civic will apparently have CO2 emission figures of less than 110g/km. Given the popularity of upper-medium cars such as the 1.6-litre CITROEN C5, PEUGEOT 508, FORD Mondeo and Volswagen Passat among car finance fleet owners, it is highly likely that Honda will eventually also bring out an Accord fitted with the new engine. Source; http://www.creditplus.co.uk/used-car-and-finance-news/HONDA/Honda-Planning-Small-Diesel-Car/998699564/