Honda has been planning on launching a compact SUV in India for quite some time now but hasn’t finalized any such plans or made any announcements regarding the same. The Vezel/HR-V unveiled last year at the Tokyo Motor Show last year was tipped to be Honda’s comapact SUV candidate for India but what we hear now is that they’ve decided against it and will now be working on an entirely new product based on the Brio’s platform. Launch is expected some time in 2016 with an estimated target price of Rs. 6-10 lakh.
The compact SUV Vezel is based on the new Jazz’s platform which also underpins the Honda City sold in India but investigations revealed that the company would be unable to price it competitively even though both the City and the Jazz are or will be manufactured in India. This has prompted the company to change directions and work on an all new Honda compact SUV based on the Brio’s platform which already underpins the Brio, Amaze and Mobilio manufactured and sold in India. The company will be relying on heavy localisation to keep costs in check in which will give it a better chance of competing with the Ford EcoSport and also the upcoming compact SUVs by Maruti, Mahindra, Tata and the Volkswagen Taigun.
Brazil’s Car and Driver magazine has rendered the possible design of the Honda Compact SUV headed for India and they’re calling it the EcoSport competitor. The rear looks similar to the XS-1 concept showcased by Honda something we had already revealed back in January. Not much is known about the design as of now except that the tall rear tail lamps seem to inspired from the CR-V which will inspire a few other design characteristics such as the low boot lip, rear quarter glass, etc. We expect the Honda compact SUV to share engines with the Mobilio so expect the car to be powered by a 1.5 litre i-VTEC petrol and a 1.5 litre i-DTEC diesel.
XS-1 Concept Gallery
Honda HR-V
Render Source- Car & Driver , Concept Pictures sourced from NetCarShow
