With the new Mobilio MPV Honda have entered a space that was previously unoccupied by the Japanese marque’s Indian arm. Car India puts the Mobilio’s petrol iteration through its paces to see where it stands in the MPV market
Story: Harket Suchde
Photography: Rommel Albuquerque
India is one of the few places in the world where big families, and even joint families are still a norm. Home, then, is where the crowd is, with three and even four generations living under the same roof. This is where Honda’s maiden MPV in India, the Mobilio comes in. Targeted at the great Indian family, the Mobilio seeks to transcend the ‘people’s carrier’ tag that so many other multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) carry, and become the vehicle of choice for big families. Have Honda managed to do so, though? We vet the top-of-the-line VX variant of the Honda Mobilio I-VTEC to find out.
For starters, the car doesn’t look too much like your ordinary people’s carrier. An MPV is typified by inconspicuous, understated, even boring design cues. However, boring is certainly not the word that springs to mind when looking at the Mobilio. The front of the car pays homage to the Brio and Amaze platform that the Mobilio has been built on, with a few tweaks here and there to give it a distinct sense of identity. While this might seem uninspired, to my mind it’s just building on a legacy. Sticking to a recognisable formula lends the Mobilio a visage that makes it instantly identifiable, even without that prominent Honda badge that sits smack in the middle of the trademark chrome strip running across the grille. In the profile is where the Mobilio’s looks really shine, and not just because we got one in that ‘Brilliant Gold Metallic’ colour either. The sharp lines running across the side, those little embellishments of black on the pillars, and classy alloys mean this car is absolutely riveting when observed from the side. This form carries across to the back too, with a rear end that’s quite pleasing to look at, thanks in particular to that striking, split, wraparound tail-lamp that really makes the aesthetics pop.
