Made in India Honda Brio arrives in South Africa

The first batch of 390 Honda Brio’s that were shipped out of Mumbai recently arrived in South Africa and will go on sale from December 3.  The Japanese automaker aims to export over 1600 units of the both the automatic and manual Brio by the end of the financial year to South Africa and the SADC countries as well. 

The export of the Brio also means that Honda’s Gurgaon plant, which has seen a drop in output over the last one year due to lack of demand for petrol models, will work closer to optimum capacity. Honda had previously been sending cars to SAARC countries since it began export operations but without much success.    

The South African and Indian car markets are very similar in nature. Both are classified as developing markets, but more importantly they are both right-hand-drive, so cars can be exported with minimum modifications. This likely to ensure that the Brio will achieve a similar sales figure that other Indian made cars like the Etios, Tata Indica Vista and Tata Manza have got since they were launched there.        

 Image courtesy: Honda South Africa