Made-in-India Honda Brio reaches South African shores

24/11/2012 - 09:27 | ,   | Nithyanandh K

The initial shipment of the made-in-India Honda Brio has just reached South Africa.

Honda Brio arriving in South AfricaHonda Brio South Africa

Regular readers of Indian Autos Blog know that Honda has started shipping the Brio hatchback to South Africa. The move not only boosts Honda's export revenue, but also helps Honda Cars India to maintain a profitable production capacity utilization which is under threat due lack of demand for petrol cars in India.

The first lot of 390 Brios embarked on the voyage to South Africa last month. Here are the pictures of the car being unloaded from the vessel in South Africa and the Honda South Africa officials posing with the little hatch. Special thanks to our South African reader Mr. Shaun Malambo for the tip off.

Honda Cars India is also looking at exporting the Brio to other African markets as well. Speaking to PTI on the occasion of commencement of shipping, Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales at Honda Cars India told, “We are first shipping the Brio to South Africa. We are also looking at countries in SADC (Southern African Development Community) such as Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius and Seychelles.”

The production capacity of the Honda Brio stands at 2,500 units per month and Honda's manufacturing facility is expected to run at full capacity once the much anticipated Amaze sedan arrives.

Before the export of Brio, Honda India had been concentrating only on SAARC countries for the exports and the company has exported a total of 1,028 units in the past 14 years. With the Brio, the export numbers are set to grow.

Honda Brio is expected to be launched in South Africa in December. Made-in-India cars have a good reputation in South Africa, cars like Toyota Etios Liva, Hyundai i10, Ford Figo and Tata Indica Vista are being shipped from here.

[Head to Flickr gallery for more images]

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