Honda took another step towards expanding their presence in India this week by introducing the first ever diesel-powered vehicle according to a report by The Wall-Street Journal.
Until now, Honda has only sold gasoline-powered vehicles in India, something the company is hoping to change with the introduction of the new Amaze compact sedan. The model will help Honda compete with other motor vehicle companies that offer diesel vehicles like Toyota and General Motors.
"Amaze will be a game changer for us and over the next few years we will look to increase our operating universe in India to around 50 percent." said Hironori Kanayama, president and chief executive of Honda Cars India Ltd in a press statement.
The sedan's diesel option is powered by a brand new 1.5 liter, four-cylinder engine with a fuel economy of 25.8 km per liter.
The diesel option of the Amaze will be sold for a base price of 599,000 rupees, or $10,991 U.S. dollars according to Honda.
The vehicle will be powered by a 1.2 litre, four cylinder engine which equals a fuel mileage of 18 km per liter in manual transmission and 15.5 km per liter in automatic transmission according to The Wall-Street Journal.
"We are confident of its success," said Kanayama in a press statement. "We have worked on aggressive localization overcoming many challenges in terms of timelines, technology and costs to bring Amaze at an attractive and affordable price. Amaze as been developed keeping in view the Indian customer need. It is Honda's answer to Indian customer's demand for diesel and should have a strong acceptance," he said.
Approximately 90 percent of the vehicle will be manufactured at Honda's Greater Noida plant according to the New York Daily News.
Honda also revealed this week that they're looking to open more dealerships around the world, from 150 in 97 cities to 162 in 102 cities by the end of the 2014 fiscal year according to Kanayama.
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