Honda Cars India Ltd. is planning to pull the plug on the production of three of its models, namely Jazz, 4th-gen City, and WR-V. The company is intending to stop the production of these products by the end of this financial year - an industry source reveals. The brand operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary, and post discontinuation of these three models, it will be left with only three products in total - Amaze, 5th-gen City, and City e:HEV. The brand earlier had an even longer product line-up, out of which, Civic and CR-V were discontinued in December 2020. The exercise made the company’s Greater Noida-based manufacturing unit to come to a halt.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Sources said the three models were being phased out as the company prepares to launch SUV models in the market.


When contacted over the issue, a Honda Cars India spokesperson said: "The company cannot comment on the market speculations."


Earlier this year, the automaker had announced that it plans to launch an SUV in the country next year.


The company is currently in the process of developing the model, it had stated.


In December 2020, Honda had announced the closure of manufacturing operations at its Greater Noida facility in Uttar Pradesh, thus consolidating its production activities at its second plant at Tapukara in Rajasthan.


Also read - India-bound Maruti Suzuki Jimmy 5-door digitally imagined, previews the upcoming SUV


The Japanese auto major had noted that the move has been taken to realign its manufacturing operations with the goal of improving business efficiency. The company's market share has declined over the years as new players consolidated their positions in the country.


Nevertheless, the brand is eyeing the SUV space with a couple of new products for the Indian market. The first under this strategy could be a sub-4m compact SUV based on Amaze’s platform. The SUV was recently revealed in its concept form, while the production-spec form will be shedding the veils soon.


With inputs from PTI