Brio, the small car offering from Honda Motors for developing nations unveiled at Thailand Motor Expo in Bangkok. Later this month Honda had made an official announcement about this event. Honda had previewed this small concept during this year’s New Delhi Auto Expo. This time in Bangkok, we have a much more refined and production ready version available.
Honda Brio measures 3,610mm in length, 1,680mm in width and 1,475mm in height. The external styling is similar to the concept car shown in New Delhi but this time Brio is matured and can easily go for mass production by March 2011. Honda Brio will be first rolling out from Thailand factory, Honda India’s Noida factory will start producing them by mid of 2011. We expect Honda Brio in India by third quarter of next year, Honda has already started trial production in India.
“This car has been developed for Thailand and Indian markets. While the basic design is same, the vehicle has been tailored to meet requirement of each market,” said Mr.Takanobu Ito, Honda Motor Co president and CEO.
Honda’s design engineers have done their perfectly. The front grille design is impressive and can compete with any upmarket hatchback in our market. The grille looks similar to Honda Civic in overall concept, but it is more chunky. At rear the tail lamps are small in size but has been styled exceptionally well. The tail door is clean from all extra styling elements, but it suits perfectly well with Brio styling. We think by keeping the tail door clean Honda could control press tools development cost.
Under bonnet hood, Honda Brio will get a 1.2 ltr petrol engine during launch and a diesel engine will join 3-4 years later. Honda has earlier said that, they are developing diesel engines for products like Brio. In Thai market Brio will get an autobox but in India Honda Bio will come with a manual transmission box. Honda officials said that Brio will be priced under Rs. 5lakhs in India. Honda Brio will be getting 80% localised components. Depending on Indian component makers will definitely help Honda to keep price under control.
The interior of Honda Brio is very plain but looks clean. The seats are continuation of recent trend, integrated seats. Integrated seats another step to control cost of Brio. Honda Brio will be sharing many internal components with it’s big brothers, City and Jazz. That make sourcing team’s job easy. Other extras like music system, air conditioner, adjustable seats are present in Brio prototype. The model shown today is supported by a set 15” tyres. ABS and airbags may come in top end variants of Honda Brio.
Any way we are impressed with overall package of Honda Brio. We are happy to see finally quality Japanese machines are getting more affordable.
Company Press Release.
Honda BRIO Prototype makes World Premiere at the 27th Thailand International
Motor Expo 2010
(Tuesday, November 30, 2010,Thailand)
Bangkok, Thailand, November 30, 2010 – Honda today conducted the world premiere of a prototype of Honda BRIO, the new compact car developed for Asian markets and scheduled to be introduced in Thailand and India in 2011, at the Thailand International Motor Expo (press day: November 30, public days: December 1-12.)
Honda BRIO Prototype is being developed with Honda’s advanced technologies, while further advancing Honda’s “man maximum, machine minimum” concept*1. Being developed as a commuter vehicle which is easy-to-use even in urban areas, the Honda BRIO prototype adopts an easy-to-handle compact body (length 3,610mm x width 1,680mm x height 1,475 mm) while ensuring enough cabin space achieved by highly efficient packaging. With this vehicle, Honda thoroughly pursued the creation of an advanced exterior form, which is compact while asserting a strong presence.
Honda BRIO will cater to the increasing demand for compact cars in newly emerging nations. Honda will develop unique versions of the mass production model for India and Thailand to reflect different customer needs in those markets. Moreover, with this vehicle, Honda will leverage the resources Honda has cultivated through its motorcycle business and utilize local sourcing of parts and materials such as sheet steel.
For the Indian model that is scheduled to be introduced within 2011, local customer needs for a small car will be reflected to the specifications and local content will be increased to create a model that achieves a good balance between vehicle performance and price. For the Thai model that is scheduled to be introduced in March 2011, fuel economy of more than 5liters/ 100km*2 will be targeted so that the vehicle will qualify as an eco-car by the Thai government, and a starting price of approximately 400,000 baht will be targeted as well.
“Honda would like to expand the joy of mobility to more customers in India, Thailand and other Asian countries through the introduction of a new small vehicle with compact and highly efficient packaging by utilizing our own experiences cultivated by our motorcycle business here in Asia,” said Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor.
*1 Honda’s “man maximum, machine minimum” concept is a basic approach to Honda car design calling for maximizing the space available for people and minimizing the space required for mechanical components.
*2 Measures with ECE R101 mode
Update (27.09.2011) :- Honda Brio launched in India
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