Honda's largest-selling vehicle, the City, is seeing a shift in variant demand, as consumers in India are increasingly opting for the petrol version of the sedan, due to the regulatory uncertainty over diesel.
Honda is primarily known for its prowess in petrol engines but with the launch of the City, the carmaker saw as much as 40 percent of the vehicle's sales coming from the diesel variant. Now, however, with the shift towards petrol, owing to the uncertainty over diesel, the percentage is down to 30 percent, according to Raman Kumar Sharma, senior vice president and director, Honda Cars India who spoke to Autocar India on the sidelines of the launch of the BR-V in Mumbai.
However, this shift may not impact the BR-V, as Honda feels the bulk of sales will come from the diesel engine as the SUV segment is still strongly in favour of diesels. Interestingly, the diesel offers only a manual gearbox while the petrol offers a choice of both manual and automatic.
In 2013, the carmaker had to bring about a major change in its investment strategy towards diesel cars, when demand started shifting from petrol. When asked about Honda’s approach to the shift to petrol, Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “We have petrol and diesel in all the models that we sell. These cars are produced in same factories, and we are trying to achieve the best flexibility in order to meet the change of demand towards petrol vehicles.”
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