Honda Cars India Ltd on Wednesday entered the multi-purpose utility vehicle (MPV) segment launching Mobilio, priced between ₹6.49 lakh and ₹10.86 lakh, and available in both petrol and diesel variants.
Seen as a game changer in the segment, the vehicle will compete with market leader Maruti’s Ertiga, GM’s Enjoy, and Toyota’s Innova.
Since it announced Mobilio’s launch a few days back, Honda says it has already received bookings for around 5,500 units across India.
The seven-seater vehicle is part of Honda’s strategy to achieve its target of 3 lakh unit sales a year in India by 2017. Going by the current average monthly sales of 17,000 units, the company may achieve that target sooner.
While the petrol Mobilio (1.5-litre) is priced in the ₹6.49-8.77 lakh range, the diesel (1.5-litre) version’s price ranges from ₹7.89 lakh to ₹10.86 lakh. According to industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the country sells around 20,000 units of utility vehicles a month on an average.
Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, Managing Officer, Honda Motor Company, told reporters here that “Mobilio is already a success in Indonesia, selling 46,000 units since its launch in January and capturing 23 per cent market share in the segment. We expect the same success in India.”
Globally, Honda has a target of selling 60 lakh units by March 2017, out of which 12 lakh will come from the Asia Oceania region. The Indian subsidiary will account for 25 per cent of the region’s sale, he said.
Honda has been reporting good numbers since introducing diesel engine options with the Amaze compact sedan last year and the new City early this year.
“The launch of Mobilio follows the success of the Honda Amaze and the all-new City which led to our exceptional growth of 83 per cent in the previous financial year,” said Hironori Kanayama, President and CEO, Honda Cars India.