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Honda Siel launches Accord

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, July 5

HONDA Siel Cars India Ltd (HSCI), the majority-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company of Japan, has launched the Honda Accord in the country. The Accord will be available in two variants, a manual transmission and an automatic transmission, and is being priced at Rs 14.95 lakh and Rs 15.75 lakh (ex-showroom in Delhi) respectively.

The sixth generation Honda Accord, which is the first luxury passenger car to be commercially launched in the emerging D-segment of the industry, will be available in HSCI dealerships across the country starting this week. Bookings for the car would comm ence from Friday, company sources said.

Launching the car at a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Teruo Fujisaki, President and CEO of HSCI, said that the all-new sixth generation Accord was the most powerful car in its category and is the most recent version of the Accord series.

Both the automatic and manual transmission variants of the Accord will sport a 2.3-litre, 16-valve, single-overhead camshaft, VTEC Honda petrol engine, delivering increased power, higher-fuel efficiency and low emissions, the company has claimed. The eng ine also features multi-point programmed fuel injection.

Other features would include, power steering, power-assisted seat adjustments, keyless entry, dual airbags, high-end music system and CD player, automatic airconditioning system, power windows and retractable door mirror controls.

Mr Fujisaki said that the company was targeting sales of about 2,500 Honda Accords during the remaining part of the current financial year. The targeted sales would give HSCI a market share of about 35 per cent in this segment.

He further mentioned that the indigenisation levels in the Honda Accord would be about 30 per cent at the time of launch. This could increase progressively, depending on the availability of quality components, HSCI officials added.

The Honda Accord will be assembled at the company's Greater Noida plant, near here. The Japanese parent has also invested about Rs 10 crore in the plant for modifications and tooling for the Accord.

Company officials also said that they were in talks with the Japanese parent to allow exports of the Honda Accord to neighbouring markets such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. HSCI is also hoping to break even during the current financial year with sales of over 11,000 units.

Honda had attempted to import the Accord for a possible launch in India in the 1980's. However, Government policies then did allow the company to realise its plans.

`No plans for import of CBUs'

AT the press meet, Mr Satoshi Toshida, Managing Director of Honda Motor Company, Japan, said that the company was not considering importing cars in the completely-built unit (CBU) form for the Indian market.

He felt that the current customs duties and levy structure did not make it economically viable to import cars from Honda's overseas operations.

Mr Toshida also said that the company was studying the Indian market for identifying other areas and segments where products could be launched.

``We are not a niche player and are present in all volume segments worldwide,'' he added. However, for the Indian market, Honda is yet to finalise its plans for a possible small car.

The Honda Managing Director said the company had small cars also in its portfolio, but had no concrete plans for launching them in India. The company also did not intend buying out the remaining one per cent equity of Siel Ltd in HSCI.

Picture: Mr Satoshi Toshida, Managing Director, Honda Motor Co, Japan, with Mr Teru Fujisaki, President and CEO, Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, at the launch of Honda Accord in the Capital on Thursday.

Picture by Kamal Narang