Car companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors have now got a formidable competitior in the form of Honda cars India as the company has offered its first product in the diesel version on Thursday. Honda launched its much-awaited entry level sedan Amaze in both diesel and petrol versions which is likely to affect sales of Swift Dzire and others of their sort.
While the diesel option will be priced between Rs5.99 and Rs7.60 lakh, the petrol version will be available at a price range of Rs4.99 lakh to Rs7.50 lakh.
The new model, which has been developed keeping in mind the Indian conditions, will compete directly with market leader Maruti Suzuki's Swift Dzire, which is priced between Rs4.92 lakh and Rs6.74 lakh for the petrol option and between Rs5.99 lakh and Rs7.5 lakh for the diesel variant.
Prices for both the variants are as per the company's official website and for ex-showroom Delhi.
The Amaze diesel option is powered by a 1.5 litre engine and the company claims that it will give a mileage of 25.8 km per litre. The petrol option has a 1.2 litre engine and the manual transmission has a fuel economy of 18 km per litre, while the automatic one is claimed to run 15.5 km in every litre.
"The Amaze is our most strategic model in the Indian market and has been developed with strong focus on Indian requirements," Honda Motor Company Managing Officer Yoshiyuki Matsumoto told reporters here.
The entry level sedan qualifies for the excise duty benefit, enjoyed by small cars in India. At present, any car with a petrol engine capacity under 1,200 cc or diesel engine under 1,500 cc, but length shorter than four metres, attracts an excise duty of 12 per cent.
Ahead of the launch of the Amaze, which the company expects to be a volume player, HCIl had last week announced to invest Rs2,500 crore by 2014 to enhance its manufacturing activities, including setting up of a new car assembly line.
As part of its plans, HCIl will set up a car assembly line, a diesel engine component unit and a forging plant at its Tapukara facility in Rajasthan.