Honda is struggling in the Indian car market with nine models discontinued in six years

• Honda has struggled to maintain its position over the past six years due to strict emissions standards and an outdated product portfolio.
• The discontinuation of nine cars in the past six years, including the recent removal of three models from the Indian website, suggests that Honda is facing challenges in the Indian market.
• As Honda prepares to launch a new compact SUV to compete with the Hyundai Creta, it remains to be seen whether the company can revive its fortunes in the Indian car market.

Honda, once a household name in the Indian car market, has struggled to maintain its position over the past six years. The strict emission standards and outdated product portfolio have prevented the company from living up to its glory in the Indian market. As a result, Honda removed the 4th generation Jazz, WR-V and City models from its Indian website and now only offers the 5th generation Amaze and City models.

In the past six years, the company has discontinued nine cars in the Indian market, a record for an international automaker. This move suggests that something is not right with Honda in India. Honda discontinued the Brio and Mobilio in 2017, followed by the Accord, Civic, CR-V, BR-V and Jazz Diesel in 2020. Now the company has pulled the plug on the WR-V, Jazz and City 4th generation of the Indian market. Despite rumors that Honda would introduce a new compact SUV to compete with the likes of Creta and Seltos, it remains to be seen whether the company can revive its fortunes in the Indian car market.

Why did Honda discontinue the three car models?

http://gotechbusiness.com/ India has reached out to several Honda dealers to get their views on the discontinuation of the three car models. According to them, Honda stopped the models mainly because of the new RDE standards. It is not feasible for Honda to invest money and resources to upgrade these older models to meet today’s strict emissions regulations as the return on investment is not guaranteed.

However, sources indicate that the automaker is preparing to launch a new compact SUV. Despite this, media reports suggest that Honda’s decision to discontinue production of the three models was due to bad sales and low demand. In February 2023, Honda cars India recorded monthly domestic sales of 6,086 units, indicating negative growth of 15 percent from the same month in 2022, when the company sold 7,187 units domestically. In addition, Honda’s exports also experienced a downturn, with the automaker exporting 973 units last month compared to 2,337 units in February 2022, resulting in a 58 percent drop.

In addition, the closure of the Greater Noida plant contributed to the discontinuation of the Civic and CR-V as Honda struggled to gain a foothold in the Indian market.

Plans for the future

Various spy images suggest that Honda is working on a new SUV tailored for the Indian market. This compact SUV competes directly with Hyundai’s Creta. Prices for the new SUV are expected to start at around ₹11 lakh (ex-showroom), and it will compete against established rivals such as the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, VW Taigun, and Skoda Kushaq.

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