Honda’s Brio Coming to India in 2011

On Tuesday, Honda- the Japanese automaker uncovered the prototype of its small car ‘Brio’ in Bangkok. It will come in India in 2011 with a price bracket of less than Rs 5 lakh. The company has said that it is going to use the vendor base of its two-wheeler business in India to provide the car on competitive price.

“This car has been developed for Thailand and Indian markets. While the basic design is same, the vehicle has been tailored to meet requirement of each market,” Honda Motor Co President and CEO Takanobu Ito said. He also stated that the mass production of the car will start in Thailand in March, 2011. Mr. Ito, commenting on the Indian launch, Ito said: “In India, we want to launch the car within 2011, with price less than Rs 5 lakh.”

Now, the company is in India through a joint venture with the Siel Group and to make ‘Brio’ a competitive product, it is looking to localize 80 % of the components. “For this vehicle, Honda will leverage the resources that it has cultivated through its motorcycle business and utilize local sourcing of parts and materials such as sheet,” Ito said.

Presently, the company operates its two-wheeler business with the wholly-owned subsidiary Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India. It has a manufacturing facility in Haryana and now building the second plant in Rajasthan. It is also reportedly surveying for location to set up a third facility.