Honda Cars India has announced that its Amaze sedan has crossed the 100,000-unit sales mark in the domestic market. The popular compact sedan has been the game-changer for Honda in India. Launched in April 2013, the 100,000 landmark has come up in just 16 months – the fastest in the company’s history in India. It was with the Amaze – the first car to get Honda’s 1.5-litre diesel engine – that the Japanese company entered the diesel market in India. The same diesel motor now powers the new City sedan and the recently launched Mobilio MPV. The petrol Amaze is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol motor.
Honda Cars India, which sold a total of 134,339 units in 2013-14 and notched 83 percent YoY growth, has been on a roll since the past year. In the four-month April-July 2014 period, it has sold 56,427 units, marking a growth of 40 percent over sales a year ago. The new City sedan has also seen strong sales and has clocked sales of over 53,000 units since its launch in January this year. The Mobilio MPV, introduced in the market on July 22, is claimed to have over 10,000 bookings.
On August 5, the company announced the shifting of production of the City sedan from the Greater Noida plant to its Tapukara plant in Alwar, Rajasthan, mainly to accommodate demand for the Amaze and production of the Mobilio at the Greater Noida plant.
The City will not be produced in August and production will resume in the first week of September. HCIL's Tapukara plant has an installed capacity of 120,000 units per annum and is currently running single-shift operations. It has been producing the Amaze sedan since February 2014 when assembly operations began at this facility.