Honda has withdrawn three of its models from the Indian market - the Jazz luxury hatchback, the WR-V sub-four-metre crossover, and the 4th-gen City sedan. With this latest move, the carmaker's portfolio now includes only the Amaze and the recently introduced 2023 Honda City.
The Jazz, WR-V, and fourth-generation City are all older Honda cars that have been on the market in India for some time. All three are based on earlier platforms from the automaker and already have replacements. In international markets, the next-gen WR-V and Jazz are available. Whereas, in India, the 5th-generation City was available with the older model.
Sales of all three models have been down for some time. One major aspect is that their competitors have advanced with the release of newer versions. Yet, with the RDE standards already in place, it makes no sense for Honda to spend money and resources. That too with the present rigorous emissions laws, as the return on investment is not guaranteed.
Thus the prudent course of action is to scrap these vehicles. This would send shivers down the spines of potential Honda automobile customers.
Honda is hard at work developing new models only for the Indian market. The Hyundai Creta challenger is the first of the new products that we may expect to see very soon. The compact SUV from the Japanese manufacturer has already been spotted many times. This Honda compact SUV is expected to hit markets later this year.
Pricing of the upcoming midsize Honda SUV is projected to start around Rs 11 lakh (ex-showroom). It will compete with Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, Skoda Kushaq, Toyota Hyryder, and Volkswagen Taigun.
