Honda Car India has decided to assemble its new CR-V Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) in the domestic boundaries so as to get the benefit from the government’s tax duty, which will facilitate the company to offer its new model competitively. Reportedly, the fourth generation model will be introduced in India somewhere in February 2013.
According to sources, the auto maker will be introducing its new model in two petrol engine options, namely 2.0 litre and 2.4 litre, similar to the one incorporated in the previous generation CR-V. Industry experts believe that the price of the upcoming model will be lower than the previous generation model as it was directly imported from Japan and attracted several import duties and taxes.
Reportedly, the new assembly of CR-V will be established at the auto maker’s Noida plant. It must be noted that none of the company officials have confirmed that the model will be brought as Completely Knocked Down (CKD) unit, however, its launch in India is fixed for February this year. A spokesperson of the company said, “We will be launching the all-new fourth generation Honda CR-V next month in the Indian market. All the details of the new car will be shared at the time of the launch.”
Auto analysts believe that the Honda CR-V was used to be titled as a segment leader, but had lost its grounds in the Indian auto market because of the increasing gap in petrol and diesel prices. Honda CR-V lost its market dominance to several other market players, which fall in a price bracket of Rs. 18 to 25 lakhs, including Mitsubishi Outlander, Ford Endeavour, Chevrolet Captiva, Renault Koleos and Toyota Fortuner.
On the launch of a new model, industry experts said that the model will have to face a stiff competition from its counterparts as most of them feature a diesel engine, which will be somehow not offered with the new generation CR-V.
