The Indian car market is a tricky place to do business as it takes a lot out of any car maker to achieve success here. There are so many factors that influence the performance of a company in India. Not only does operating in the Indian car market require a lot of research and analysis, it also needs accurate implementation of plans. This task becomes tougher in case of foreign car makers as they have to do a lot of preparation before even making any substantial move. If one was to trace the performance of various foreign car makers in the country, it can be easily pointed out that Southeast Asian companies have had a high success rate. A straight fact that verifies this premise is that South Korean firm Hyundai is the country's second largest passenger car maker behind Maruti Suzuki. Another company that has had an interesting performance graph in India is Japanese car maker Honda.
Honda's stint in the Indian car market can be broadly categorised into two phases. The first phase, wherein it produced only petrol cars that were bought by people looking for utmost comfort and performance, made the brand popular in India. Honda's first model in India, the City sedan, has been a huge success over the years and still continues to do well; something that can be seen by the number of versions that have been launched. Apart from City, Honda produced other cars in its first phase, such as CR-V, Accord, Civic and Jazz. Although these vehicles got amazing reviews, they were unable to help Honda to gain any sort of sizeable market share in India. Notably, Civic and Jazz, two discontinued models, were top class in terms of features, comfort and performance. However, their price tags and inability to sustain themselves in the long run led to discontinuation. Even though Civic has been discontinued, it is still loved by a number of people all over the country.
The Japanese auto maker soon realised that given its pedigree in the international market, it has not been able to get the best out of the Indian car market. This is where the second phase of Honda, which is still continuing, began as it started revising its strategies for the Indian car market. The massive redevelopment program included the designing and conceptualising of the Brio platform and the Earth Dreams Diesel technology. Officials from Honda, the media and industry experts, have all said that these two accomplishments have been critical in making Honda a brand for masses in India. According to reports, Honda was extremely confident about the success of the Amaze and Brio cars in India. The Brio, launched first, received a good response from critics and buyers. However, it was the introduction of Amaze that took things to another level for Honda. The Amaze compact sedan, literally, has taken the Indian car market by storm since its arrival in India. An indication of the same can be seen by the fact that it has managed to give the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire a run for its money. Moreover, Honda has discovered the importance of targeting mass buyers in India in order to become a major player in India. Honda Amaze has, single-handedly, kept the its manufacturer afloat during testing times in Indian, wherein bigwigs like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have struggled.
Although both the phases have done Honda good, the second one has a certain sense of sustainability and is better for the firm's performance in the long run. The impact of this can be seen by the fact that Honda is now more positive about the Indian car market. In the coming years, the firm has plans of launching several new models. According to reports, the company is primarily focusing on introduction diesel version of its models, such as the City sedan and the Jazz hatchback. Also, Honda is going to come up with the Brio Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) in India by 2014, if reports are to be believed. Industry experts feel that Honda's tremendous brand value and holistic approach to problem solving can lead to it achieving greater heights in India. It is being said that the City diesel is going to be a huge success considering how well the petrol version has performed. One of the biggest reasons why this claim can be termed as correct is the kind of response the i-DTEC technology has got. Right now, Honda is enjoying a good phase in the Indian car market even when the overall condition is not that favourable. And with things set to improve, the future looks quite bright for the Japanese car maker.
