Honda Siel Cars India Ltd is looking to launch an under 1L engined small car after launching its Jazz. The 'mystery car' will come out of its Rajasthan facility within the next three years. The possibility of a sub-1 litre engine driven car was revealed by well placed sources within Honda. Quite coincidentally, Honda Japan manufactures cars fitted with 660cc engines, like the Zest, under its K-series which is currently sold only in Japan.
“Plans are to manufacture this small car which is currently at the design stage from our new plant in Rajasthan. This plant has already started the first phase of production where vehicle parts are being manufactured. In the second phase, the plant will start vehicle production during 2009. The unit in Rajasthan will initially have a capacity to manufacture 60,000 units that can be scaled up to 2 lakh with requisite investment. ” said Honda Siel’s Marketing Vice-President, Jnansewar Sen said.
Honda has no experience with the Indian small car segment yet, so it hopes to learn the 'Indian small car buyer' with the Jazz. The Small car sector is getting crammed day by day, and each car seems to have its own market strategy. Will the 'mystery car' compete with the Nano? Will it go head to head with the Alto? Well, we just have to wait and find out.
