“Smaller cities in India key to Brio success”, Honda Siel Cars

2011 Honda Brio Hatchback

The failure of the Jazz has lead Honda Siel Cars to rethink their strategy for India and this time Honda is choosing to tread carefully. Honda wants their small hatchback, Brio to be a success across the length and breadth of the country and the company thinks small cities hold the key to the success of the Honda Brio.

“We are not exactly focusing on the major metros with Brio,” Honda Siel Cars vice-president Jnaneshwar Sen. “It will cater to urban nucleus families, but will meet specific needs of larger family units in small towns.”

Honda, in India was basically concentrating all their effort and resources at selling their cars in the major metros of the country. Now with the Brio, Honda wishes to target customers in smaller towns. Not that smaller cities don’t have the potential. In fact developing cities like Aurangabad and Kolhapur in Maharashtra have seen a tremendous spike in demand for luxury cars including BMW and Mercedes Benz.

Other factors that have led Honda to re-think their strategy for the Brio has been the success story of the Ford Figo and Hyundai i20. Ford Figo especially, took the market by storm as it attracted customers away from the latest offerings of Hyundai and Maruti. Honda will like to take on the Ford Figo in 2011 with the Brio which is expected to debut in September at around INR 5 Lakh. The Brio can also be a success given, Honda price it well if it plans to de-throne the Figo. Nissan Micra is a good example of how bad pricing can lead to a total debacle.

Honda Siel Cars has also initiated talks with government as well as regional banks to offer structure finance for its cars.

“As we moved to small cities and settlements, we have enrolled these financial institutions including cooperative banks, who have the ability to cater to profiles of potential customers for Brio,” Sen said.

News courtesy: Economic Times

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