Honda plans to expand the Brio compact hatch range in India with the launch of an automatic variant next month.
This will be the third model in the small car segment after the Maruti Suzuki A-Star and Hyundai i10 to offer such a transmission option.
Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India, said that a need for such a variant was felt from customers who wanted a car that is easy to drive in crowded cities.
However, the Brio automatic may not mean a significant jump in volumes for Honda, since automatic variants account for a low single-digit percentage share of total cars sold in the country.
Sen also denied rumours that the Accord brand will be pulled out of India, but said that the new Civic sedan launch may be delayed for the home market. The new Civic was launched in the US and Europe last year.
”We're not pulling out the Civic right now, but given that the C segment is not growing, it makes no sense to invest in local manufacturing of a new model and that too with a petrol engine," he said.