Honda to launch new car in 2009

Chennai: Japanese auto major Honda is planning to launch a new hatchback car by next year from its upcoming factory in Rajasthan, where an investment of Rs 1,000 crore has been committed.

'We will be launching a premium hatchback by the last quarter of next year and it will be rolled out from our Rajasthan facility,' Honda Siel Cars India Vice President (Marketing) Jnaneswar Sen said.

The new car would primarily be meant for the domestic market, he added.

The company sees sales in India rebounding in the festive season after witnessing a dip in August.

'On the back of our new launches we are hoping that sales will pick in the upcoming festival season,'
He said the newly launched Honda Accord is averaging 500 units a month, compared to about 250-300 earlier.

'Our 2 litre sports utility vehicle (SUV) CRV is also doing well. We have already sold about 60 units of our Civic Hybrid also,' he said.

The company, which sold about 62,800 units last year, is bullish that it will cross the same mark this year too.

Sen, however, said lack of finance and tightening of credit norms by financial institutions have affected the company's sales.

Honda car sales dipped by 19.14 per cent to 3,945 units in August as against 4,879 units in the same month a year ago.

Sen further said due to rising input cost the margins of the company has been affected in the last few months.

'Our margins have been affected mainly for two reasons rising input cost and rupee depreciation as we have high import content.'

Its popular model Honda City imports 20 per cent of its components, while Honda Accord accounts for about 65 per cent of the importing components, he added.