Honda bets big on Tier 1, 2 cities for Mobilio sales in India

Honda Cars India hopes to sell between 3,000-5000 units of the Mobilio, the seven-seater MPV that it launched in Mumbai today. Deliveries of the Mobilio – a combination of the words Mobility and Mobile – begin today and the company says it has close to 6,000 bookings.

According to Jnaneswar Sen, director (sales and marketing), 60 percent of Mobilio sales are expected from Tier 1 and 2 cities. The rationale, Sen explained is, the increased purchasing power in these cities and towns. Indeed, 75 percent of new Honda outlets that will come up by March 2015 will be in such cities. The number is expected to touch 230 outlets, up from 150 at present.

Developed for the Asian region, the Mobilio was launched in Indonesia in January where it has been able to garner a 33 percent market share with 46,000 units sold so far. India is the second market where the vehicle has been launched.

HCIL has set itself an annual overall sales target of 300,000 units for India by March 2017. In 2013-14, it sold 134,000 units. Honda’s overall global target is to sell six million units by March 2017 of which 1.2 million are expected to come from the Asia-Oceania region. HCIL will account for 25 percent of those numbers.

Honda has sold 5.5 million MPVs by end-2013 and senior Honda sources said they are confident that  the Mobilio will do well. Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, managing officer, Honda Motor Company, said the Mobilio has used locally-optimised designs. Sen said that buyer surveys had indicated that the Indian buyer’s priorities included a spacious cabin, fuel economy, comfort and external style.

Honda’s product research had indicated that an ideal MPV should be 1600mm in height and 4.4 metres in length, taking into account parking in India’s cities and mall and shopping areas.

The Mobilio is targeted at families with 5-7 members and a typical buyer is expected to be in the 30-40 year age group. Honda hopes to grab market share from upper C segment cars and full-sized MPVs.

The Mobilio has been launched in three trim levels and will also get an upper end sporty diesel variant, the Mobilio RS in September which will be available exclusively in Crystal Black Pearl. The MPV rolls out from Honda’s Greater Noida plant which is currently operating at 180,000 units capacity. HCIL’s total capacity will expand to 240,000 units when it kicks off a second shift at its Tapukara plant.