Honda India will launch the new seven-seater MVP, the Mobilio, in the next couple of hours and we are already at the venue to bring you live updates as they happen. We drove the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga competitor earlier this month and are now waiting for the variants and price announcements. Watch this space for more details on pricing, variants, features, specs and other details, live from the Taj Palace, New Delhi.
Live Updates
All the seats are occupied, the event will begin in a few minutes.
And we begin in typical Honda fashion - a Honda AV showcasing their lineage.
Host for the day, Payal Chada is on the stage.
Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, head of Honda Pacific Oceania, on stage to give the welcome address.
The Mobilio is enjoying a successful run in Indonesia where it was launched in January this year.
Confident that Mobilio will replicate that success in the Indian market .
Hironori Kanayama, Chief Executive Officer and President of Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, is now on stage to spell out Honda's future plans.
Honda grew 83 per over the previous year with the launch of the Amaze and City. Kanayama says Honda customers are their best brand ambassadors. Around 46,000 Mobilios have been sold in Indonesia since its launch in January. Brio, Amaze, City have been ranked number one in quality.
Honda has an aggressive network expansion plan with aim of having 150 touch points in India by March 2015. Honda says Mobilio is expected to sell 3 lakh units in India by 2017.
Another AV showcasing the future of Honda Cars. The AV focuses on Honda's i-VTEC and i-DTEC engines.
Talking about Honda's advanced fuel-cell technology and Honda's contribution to the environment. It also claims that these are the most efficient engines in the country.
Junichi Teaoka - head of development Honda R&D Asia Pacific, giving a brief on the development of the Mobilio. Ground clearance of 189mm specifically for the Indian conditions. The name of the MVP has been derived from two words - Mobility and Mobile.
The interiors focuses on prime comfort. Seats have recliner adjustment for absolute customer comfort. The interiors have focused on comfort, convenience and capacity. The middle row has 60:40 split with slide and tumble function. Third row also has rake adjustment and there are plenty of bottle holders for all three rows.
Talking about the Mobilio RS - front and rear bumpers are sporty, headlamps get projector units, alloy wheels and grille are more premium than the standard variants.
The Mobilio uses the 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine from the City with an ARAI efficiency of 17.3kpl. The diesel engine is standard across the range. It gets a five-speed transmission from the Amaze and it has an ARAI claimed fuel efficiency of 24.2kpl.
The Petrol engine has a claimed ARAI efficiency of 17.3kpl.
Jnaneshwar Sen now on stage to share the India development story and the marketing strategy for the Mobilio.
Honda Mobilio will be available with four diesel and three petrol grades.
Honda will also offer 30 accessories to enhance the exteriors and interiors of the MVP. Honda claims that the cost of maintenance of the Mobilio will be the lowest in the segment.
Mr Sen takes us through the marketing strategy adopted for the Mobilio.
The Mobilio will be available in seven colours at the time of the launch. Honda is showing the TV commercial of the Mobilio - their theme 'man maximum, machine minimum'.
Digital medium was the core of their pre-launch campaign. Roping in popular comedian Kapil Sharma. Even Twitter and Facebook were used to spread the word. The web episodes with Kapil Sharma gained the maximum views in a short period of time.
And the prices are out:
Petrol
E Grade :Rs 6.49 lakh (ex showroom Delhi )
S Grade: Rs 7.50 lakh
V Grade: 8.76 lakh
Diesel
E Grade: Rs 7.89 lakh
S Grade diesel: Rs 8.60 lakh
V Grade diesel: Rs 9.76 lakh
The top-end diesel RS variant is priced at Rs 10.86 lakh
Check the prices, variants, features and all other details of the Honda Mobilio.
