A sedan now on Honda small car platform?

Taking a cue from companies like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar, Fiat et al, India's premium carmaker is reportedly working on a two-pronged strategy to have both sedan and hatchback versions for its car. It was reported pretty earlier Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. which had recently unveiled the Honda New Small Concept, a concept model for a new small-sized vehicle, at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi, has said that the car's production version will be priced below Rs. 5 lakh and will have nearly 80 per cent local content.

  

Now if Business Standard is to be believed, Honda Motor Company is planning a sedan on the same platform of the new mass-market compact car which it intends to launch in India in a little more than a year. 

 

Fumihiko Ike, chief operating officer of regional operations, Asia Oceania, Honda Motor Company, was quoted as saying to the aforesaid business daily, "There will be multiple models coming out of the small car platform after its launch in 2011. We will explore a sedan, too, using the same platform to make maximum use of our resources."

  

However, a senior official of the company, when contacted denied any such development. The representative said, "Such stories are merely speculative and the company is just focusing on rolling out the small car. Plans for a sedan version is not on the drawing board of the company yet." 

 

HSCI also announced plans to begin sales of a new 5-seater hatchback model in 2011 based on this concept model. In order to keep costs low, Honda would also focus on localisation which means India could end up being a key sourcing base for supply of parts to other countries where the car will be launched. Indications are that Brazil, Russia and parts of Europe could be on the radar. The model, which had been entirely developed in Japan, will be manufactured at Honda's Greater Noida facility from next year. Honda has another plant in Rajasthan which produces body panels and engine components. This could well be home to the small car should there be a need for added capacity, as revealed by a senior representative of Honda Siel earlier.