Japanese auto major Honda on Monday announced that its new compact SUV BR-V had secured over 4,000 bookings.

The bookings for BR-V, built on the platform of the Brio, Amaze and Mobilio, started on April 16, ahead of the market launch on May 5. The company is hopeful sustaining a decent monthly numbers for the 7-seater SUV.

“We have been receiving very good response to the new SUV and we expect to clock good numbers,” said Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India (HCIL), said here.

BR-V marked Honda’s entry into compact SUV segment, a fast-growing category in the Indian passenger vehicle (PV) market. While SUV segment achieved a growth of 35 per cent in 2015-16, the entry level or compact SUV segment grew by 43 per cent, highest growth rate for any sub-segment of the PV market.

Unlike other compact SUVs, BR-V, which carries a starting price of Rs.8.91 lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai) comes with a 3-row configuration, a major differentiator according to the company in the compact SUV segment. “This is an unmet need of the customers in this category,” claimed Sen.

With its existing SUV Mobilio not clocking good numbers, HCIL seeks to catch up with competition and increase the volumes in a growing category with BR-V. Meanwhile, the company is contemplating selling Mobilio in the commercial fleet segment to spur sales of vehicle.

Though fleet segment is quite a big market Honda doesn't have a strong presence. The company avoided a play in this market due to brand image.

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