New Honda Amaze aimed at reversing falling sales of current model

Honda Cars India has begun accepting pre-launch bookings, at Rs 21,000, at all its 352 dealerships in 239 cities across India for its new, second-generation Honda Amaze compact sedan which is to be launched in May 2018.

The new Honda Amaze was globally unveiled earlier this year, at the 2018 Auto Expo. Mechanically, the car is likely to continue with the 88hp, 1.2-litre petrol and the 1.5-litre, 100hp diesel engine options. Amaze's petrol variant will come with a five-speed manual gearbox with optional CVT; and the diesel will also, for the first time, get an optional CVT gearbox.

The new Honda Amaze gets a more prominent nose with styling bits inspired by the larger City sedan. However, the compact sedan’s rear styling is neatly done, which gives it an overall balanced look. Higher variants of the sedan are expected to come with 10-spoke alloy wheels.

On the inside, the dual-tone interior theme will continue, just like the outgoing model. A prominent touchscreen infotainment system takes centre stage, on the dashboard. Honda has packaged the interior so as to cleverly allow more legroom for the new sedan.

As far as pricing goes, expect the new Amaze to be priced slightly higher than the outgoing model. The compact sedan will take on the likes of the popular Maruti Dzire, Ford Aspire, Volkswagen Ameo and Tata Tigor sedans.

Talking about the Honda Amaze, Rajesh Goel, senior VP and director (Marketing & Sales), Honda Cars India, said, “The Honda Amaze has been one of our very successful models in India, with over 257,000 satisfied customers. With the second-generation Amaze, we are extremely excited to add another chapter to the success story of the model. The introduction of India’s diesel CVT technology in the new Amaze, which offers an unmatched and superior automatic driving experience, is also a first from Honda globally. We are confident the customers will see great value in this new technology.”

Honda looks to pep up slowing sales of the Amaze
The Amaze was the first diesel model introduced by Honda Cars India, marking Honda’s entry into the diesel passenger vehicle segment in India. While it recorded robust sales in the first three years of sale, subsequently numbers dipped.    

In FY2014, the first full year of sales, the sedan sold a total of 77,411 units, averaging 6,450 units a month. That number though proved to be its best yet. Subsequently, as market competition grew, numbers gradually started dropping: 66,698 units in FY2015, then 54,594 units in FY2016, 33,756 units in FY2017 and finally 21,668 units in the just-ended FY2018.

With the new, second-generation Amaze, Honda will be looking to boost sales of the compact sedan.