At an exclusive event held in Tokyo, Honda bigwigs announced their intention to execute six “big” launches in India in the coming three years. The Tokyo Motor Show 2017, while largely focused on EV and hybrid technologies, did showcase some interesting vehicles that hold a certain amount of relevance towards the Indian market. Honda is one of the brands that definitely had showcases that are likely to make their way to our shows. The brand’s Chief Officer for Asia & Oceania Regional Operations, Shinji Aoyama, along with Takahiro Hachigo, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co and Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO of Honda Cars India, jointly addressed the Indian media after the Motor Show to expand on their plans for our country.
The big announcement from this session came from Hachigo who confirmed that India was the leading market for Honda in the Oceania region, and as such, Honda would launch a total of six big products in the country in the next three years. Honda revealed a new Civic and Accord, and showcased the latest edition of their CR-V SUV at the Tokyo Motor Show 2017, and all three cars are likely to be part of the aforementioned six new launches.
Honda’s show-stopper launch for cars at the event was undoubtedly the Sports EV Concept. As the name suggests, Honda have created a sporty, stylish electric vehicle concept, and it looks delightful. At our press briefing though, Honda did confirm that they aren’t looking at introducing EVs to the Indian market any time soon, and are considering hybrids at the moment. All cars will come in as CKD of course, as for what cars and when these six launches will be, you’ll have to stay tuned for confirmation on that.
One among the many topics touched upon by the Honda hierarchy at the briefing, was motorsport. Hachigo confirmed that while the brand was involved with Formula 1, they wouldn’t look to participate in Formula E simultaneously. For a detailed account on the press brief from Honda, and the Tokyo Motor Show in general, tune in to the upcoming issues of Car India magazine.
