Honda struggles in the Indian car market with discontinuation of nine models in six years

• Honda has struggled to maintain its position in the past six years due to stringent emission norms and an aging product portfolio.
• The discontinuation of nine cars in the past six years, including the recent removal of three models from its India website, suggests that Honda is facing challenges in the Indian market.
• While Honda is preparing to launch a new compact SUV to compete with the Hyundai Creta, it remains to be seen whether the company can revive its fortunes in the Indian car market.

Honda, once a household name in the Indian car market, has struggled to maintain its position in the past six years. The stringent emission norms and aging product portfolio have resulted in the company failing to live up to its glory in the Indian market. As a result, Honda has removed the Jazz, WR-V, and City 4th generation models from its India website and now offers only the Amaze and City 5th generation models.

In the past six years, the company has discontinued nine cars in the Indian market, a record high for an international automaker. This move suggests that something is not going right for Honda in India. Honda discontinued the Brio and Mobilio in 2017, followed by the Accord, Civic, CR-V, BR-V, and Jazz Diesel in 2020. Now, the company has pulled the plug on the WR-V, Jazz, and City 4th generation from the Indian market. Despite rumours of Honda introducing a new compact SUV to compete with the likes of Creta and Seltos, it remains to be seen whether the company can revive its fortunes in the Indian car market.

Why did Honda discontinue the three car models?

Business Insider India has contacted various Honda dealerships to gather their thoughts on discontinuing the three car models. According to them, Honda discontinued the models mainly because of the new RDE norms. It is not viable for Honda to invest money and resources to upgrade these older models to meet the current stringent emissions regulations, as the return on investment is not guaranteed.

However, sources indicate that the carmaker is preparing to launch a new compact SUV. Despite this, media reports suggest that Honda's decision to discontinue the three models was due to poor sales and low demand. In February 2023, Honda Cars India recorded monthly domestic sales of 6,086 units, indicating a negative growth of 15 percent from the same month in 2022 when the company sold 7,187 units in the domestic market. In addition, Honda's exports also experienced a decline, with the carmaker exporting 973 units last month compared to 2,337 units in February 2022, resulting in a 58 percent drop.

Furthermore, the closure of the Greater Noida plant contributed to the discontinuation of the Civic and CR-V, as Honda struggled to strengthen its foothold in the Indian market.

Future plans

Several spy shots suggest that Honda is working on a new SUV tailored for the Indian market. This compact SUV will directly compete with Hyundai's Creta. Prices for the new SUV are anticipated to start at around ₹11 lakh (ex-showroom), and it will go head-to-head with established rivals such as the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, VW Taigun, and Skoda Kushaq.

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