Honda sees new Amaze boosting sales

Pitted against Maruti Suzuki’s Dzire, which has over 50 per cent share in the segment, the company is confident that rich features of the car will help it become the favourite among buyers.

NEW DELHI: Japanese car maker Honda Cars India (HCIL) on Wednesday launched the new-generation Amaze compact sedan with a starting price tag of Rs 5.59 lakh to boost its sales in the domestic four-wheeler market.

Pitted against Maruti Suzuki’s Dzire, which has over 50 per cent share in the segment, the company is confident that rich features of the car will help it become the favourite among buyers.

Rajesh Goel, senior VP and director (sales and marketing) at Honda Cars India, said, “I think we are the first company to come up with a full-fledged sedan and not just a boot attached to a hatchback. This platform has been developed for India after an extensive survey.”

Goel added that HCIL’s sales fell 35 per cent in April because the company had not sold the Amaze model during the month. “Now, with the Amaze, we are expecting higher numbers month-on-month so that our sales number will bounce back,” he said.

Honda sold 9,595 vehicles in April 2018, down by 35 per cent. Honda also announced that it will launch six new models in three years to strengthen its position in the domestic market.

In the ongoing financial year, Honda will launch three vehicles- the new Amaze, a new Civic sedan and a new CR-V. The company expects that the launches will help it grow faster than the industry growth rate and even surpass its 8 per cent growth last fiscal, when it sold 1,70,026 units.

When asked whether the company had plans to launch vehicles in the fast-growing utility vehicle segment, Goel said that they were reading the market and would decide whether they will launch a compact SUV, MUV or a compact SUV.

Similarly, the company has no immediate plans to launch vehicles in the entry-level segment and is preparing a strategy for launching electric vehicles in the country.

HCIL president and CEO Gaku Nakanishi said that Honda wanted to expand its base in the country as PV market will touch 5 million units per annum going forward. For Amaze, the CEO said, “We expect new Amaze to replicate the success of our Honda City in the country.”