Japanese auto major Honda Motor has decided to do away with its standard safety features in company’s upcoming launch, the small car Brio. The company has made this decision to make sure Honda Brio has a competitive starting price. The small car Brio is expected to launch in September in the range of under Rs 5 lakh.
According to some industry experts Honda Siel Cars India, Honda’s subsidiary in India, might be controlling the pricing of their first ever small car here in India by launching their entry vehicle without airbags, slightly going off track from their policy globally, which was ‘safety first’ all these years.
Airbags and other top-notch safety features such as antilock braking system and body cage are standard in all existing Honda cars, across models and variants. This may change with Brio. The airbag increases the cost of a car between Rs 45,000-60,000.
Without denying the possible loss of specifications, the Honda Siel spokesperson said that the price and variant strategy of Brio will be announced close to the car’s launch around the end of this month. The spokesperson said Honda plans to launch the Brio at less than Rs 5 lakh.
“Honda R&D is working closely with our purchase department to increase pure localisation of components for the Brio.” Sliding sales in the face of stiff competition from the likes of Volkswagen Vento and Hyundai Verna have already forced Honda to cut prices of its flagship City sedan by up to Rs 66,000.
