Almost two weeks ahead of its launch in India on July 23rd, bookings for Honda Mobilio MPV have begun at authorized Honda dealerships for a token amount of Rs 50,000. The Japanese automaker has also started production of the MPV at its manufacturing unit located in Greater Noida. 90 per cent of localization will enable the auto maker to price the vehicle aggressively. A hypothetical starting price of around 6.5 lakh is being speculated for the vehicle.
Based on the Brio platform, Mobilio will come with three row lay-out offering 7 occupants to be seated comfortably inside the cabin. The high ground clearance of 189 mm and wheelbase of 2650 mm are among the USPs of the MPV. Honda will offer Mobilio in both 1.5 litre petrol and 1.5 litre i-DTEC diesel engine options, both the variants will come mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Honda claims Mobilio to deliver a segment best fuel economy of 17.3 kmpl for the petrol version, while the diesel trim is expected to return an impressive mileage of 24.2 kmpl.
Styling has been done in tandem with Honda’s cliché taste for cars, apart from looking chic and robust, Mobilio has been designed keeping in mind, ‘man maximum and machine minimum’ philosophy. Interior cues have been taken from Brio hatchback and Amaze compact sedan. Focus has been on space in the new Mobilio MPV, interiors have been worked upon meticulously to allow a roomier cabin for the comfort of the passengers. A curved dashboard has been designed to offer more legroom to the passenger sitting in the front; scooped seat back allows more knee room, redesigned roof lining permits ample head room, tumble third row seats for flexi space, concave door lining also proffers more space on the side and a convenient one touch second row tumble has been placed for easy entry and exit of the passengers.
In India, the MPV will face off primarily with Maruti’s Ertiga that is also a seven seater offered in the range of above 6 lakhs. Other than Ertiga, Mobilio will collide head on with Chevrolet Enjoy and Toyota Innova among others. Mobilio has already been a hit in Indonesian market, hopefully it will receive similar or even better response in India.
