Honda is currently plotting for a new small hatchback that would be positioned below the Brio. Dubbed the 'World A-entry hatch' it could be built at its third manufacturing plant in India.
Sources have told Financial Express that Honda Cars India had a top-level meeting in Delhi last month, which was attended by Global Chairman Fumihiko Ike and global president Takanobu Ito. Apparently the company has started a feasibility study of which several locations are being considered.
As the new small car is aimed at bringing huge volumes (it would be priced in the INR 3-4 lakh range, competing with the Eon and the Alto), Honda would need to have a dedicated plant to manufacture it. Initial estimates talk about a 2017 launch for the new small car.
Apart from the company's Greater Noida plant which makes the Brio, Amaze and the City and assembles the Accord and the CR-V, Honda Cars India will be inaugurating their brand-new plant in Tapukara, Rajasthan, which will begin rolling out vehicles from early 2014. According to the sources, the third plant could come up in Gujarat (Sanand). Honda Motorcycles has already bought a plot of land in Sanand for its own facility and it would make sense for the company to keep its group affiliates close by.
Officials from Honda Cars India refused to comment on this report.
