Honda has announced that it will launch a car in the A-segment to compete with the Maruti Suzuki Alto and Hyundai Eon. Tata Nano and Chevrolet Spark are the two other cars in this high volume entry-level segment in India. Honda’s new model joins the waiting list along with the upcoming Datsun small cars from the Renault-Nissan alliance.
Hironori Kanayama, president and CEO of Honda India, in an interview with the Economic Times said the entry level segment still plays an important role in the market and this has prompted the company to look actively into it. He has however also admitted that they (Honda) currently do not have a suitable small engine below the capacity of the 1.2-litre mill powering Brio hatchback.
Honda currently has a 660cc mill that it uses in its Kei (light automobile specification) cars in japan but has said that this will not be suitable for the Indian market due to the difference in preferences between Japanese car buyers and the Indian car buyers.
The most viable car in this range is the new N-One that was launched for the Japanese market in November last year. It is a four door kei car and is powered by a 660cc mill that produces 63bhp and 104Nm of torque. There is also a turbocharged version along with the naturally aspirated version.
It is likely that Honda may redesign this mill and increase its capacity to 800cc, putting it in the same league as the Alto and the Eon. Kanayama has said that they have not yet made a decision in this regard.
Source: ET
![Maruti Suzuki Alto [2010-2013] Image](https://imgd.aeplcdn.com/0x0/cw/static/oxygen/no-car-images.svg "Maruti Suzuki Alto [2010-2013] Image")
