Honda has been witnessing very strong sales, primarily because of two of its most successful products, Amaze and City. Honda has managed to reach the 6th spot on the list of largest carmakers in the country. Honda recorded total sales of 11,320 units in January 2021 as compared to only 5,299 units in January 2020. This is a whopping 114% growth in sales. Prime contributors remain City, which is also the highest-selling mid-size sedan in the country for the calendar year 2020. It has overcome tough competition from the likes of Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Skoda Rapid to emerge victoriously. in the compact sedan segment, Amaze maintains a constant number 2 spot ahead of the Hyundai Aura/Xcent below the segment leader, Maruti Suzuki Dzire.
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Also, a contributing factor according to Honda is the increase in export numbers. Honda has started exporting City to the left-hand drive markets around the world from India. It has invested in developing a world-class manufacturing facility in India to manufacture both left and right-hand drive cars to export to multiple markets across the continents. The models like City, Amaze, WR-V have been constantly exported and the volume of exports has reached 1,233 units in January 2021 in comparison to a mere 182 units in the same month last year. This indicates an exponential growth of over 570% and this is only going to increase further.
Also read: Honda City goes hybrid globally; expected to enter India soon!
Honda Price Hike
Following a tremendous growth trajectory in January 2021, Honda has also announced a small price hike across the board. The reason for this hike is the increase in the input costs which affects the industry every year in the beginning. Hence, almost all carmakers announce price hikes at the beginning of each year. The models to be affected by this price hike depend on the variants as well. Let us glance through the amounts that the products are expensive by.
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Honda Amaze and WR-V
Honda Amaze has got expensive by Rs 5,000 across all variants except for the top two trims of the diesel. Now the Amaze costs Rs 6.22 lakh to Rs 9.99 lakh, ex-showroom. Similarly, WR-V has seen a price hike of Rs 5,00 across the petrol and diesel lineup for this year. This means that prices of WR-V start at Rs 8.55 lakh and go all the way up to Rs 11.05 lakh, ex-showroom. In comparison to the competition in the compact SUV segment, it still remains very competitive.
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Honda Jazz and City
The premium hatchback offering from Honda, the Jazz has been reduced to a petrol-only product since the arrival of BS6 norms and this has affected its sales to some extent. Now, the Jazz sees a minor price hike of Rs 5,000 across all variants. This makes Jazz cost between Rs 7.55 lakh and Rs 9.79 lakh, ex-showroom. The highest-selling mid-size sedan in the country in 2020, the City continues to sell through. The reason for that, apart from being a great product, is that Honda is offering the fourth and fifth-gen models of the City simultaneously. Hence, the fourth-gen City remains unaffected by this price hike. The latest-gen City witnesses a price hike of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. This means that the fifth-gen City ranges from Rs 10.99 lakh to Rs 14.84 lakh, ex-showroom.
