Honda Cars India will launch its next vehicle, the BR-V, which it describes as a “crossover utility vehicle”, early next financial year.
It will be pitted against the likes of Renault Duster, Hyundai Creta, Ford EcoSport and Mahindra TUV3OO.
The company has started conducting “product clinics” of the vehicle – where it showcases the vehicle to select customer groups in the country and gets their feedback on features and price – and expects to finalise the specifications and other features in the next few months.
The BR-V, or Bold Roundabout Vehicle, will come with a 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol and 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine and will have a six-speed manual transmission, to begin with. The company will look into whether it can also bring in the CVT model in the petrol variant.
The company officials believe that the BR-V’s unique feature will be the third row of seats. The BR-V is built on the same platform as the Amaze and Mobilio. Indonesia is the lead market for the BR-V and the vehicle is expected to be launched there in December.
A team of Indian journalists got an opportunity to test drive the CVT (automatic transmission) version of the BR-V on Tuesday at the Twin Ring Motegi track, near Tokyo. For Honda Motor Co, India is the fourth largest market globally in terms of sales, after the US, China and Japan.
(The writer is in Tokyo at the invitation of Honda Motor Co.)