Given that the Jazz isn't turning out to be all that successful in India, maybe Honda bosses should refrain from taking random digs at the Tata Nano...?
According to a Bloomberg report, , Fumihiko Ike, President – Asian Honda Motor Co., recently said in an interview that Honda has no plans to launch a car that can compete with the Tata Nano. ‘Japanese carmakers just can’t make a car like that, nor do they want to,’ said Ike. He went on to add that Honda is in the process of developing an all-new small car for the Indian and Thai markets, which will is likely to be launched in 2012.
When asked about the car’s pricing, Ike said Honda’s small car would be sold in India ‘at a price equivalent to the average annual salary.’ Now that seems a bit ambiguous, but we suppose Ike is probably referring to a price point of around Rs 3-4 lakh.
‘Compared with Europe and the US, recovery of these Asian economies [India and Thailand] has been slightly faster. Banks started loosening credit relatively early, which has helped because a high ratio of people buy cars and motorcycles on credit,’ says Ike. ‘There is a huge income disparity gap in these countries, and our new product will meet untapped demand.’
Going by the example of the Honda Jazz, which is definitely overpriced and which seems to have failed to take off in the Indian market, we hope Honda will do their homework well before launching their new small car here. Today they might be taking digs at the Nano (which, by the way, we think is a brilliant product that’s just right for India), but tomorrow Honda may also find themselves building a similar product not only for India, but for many other markets as well!
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