Honda Cars India, the 100 percent subsidiary of the Japanese automobile major Honda is planning to introduce a new diesel engine for its Indian car portfolio in the fiscal 2013-14 with the motive to counter falling petrol car demand in the Indian car market.
According to Mr. Takanobu Global CEO Honda, the company will introduce an all-new diesel engine which will be integrated with new car models. The move will enable the company to offer better competition to other carmakers in India with its higher fuel efficiency and cost advantage through local production and sourcing.
The carmaker has been witnessing tough times since 2011 when slowdown hit the India automobile industry. The condition worsened for Honda when petrol price was hiked numerous times in 2011 continuing into 2012. The automaker which currently doesn’t have any diesel car model in its car portfolio for India was hit by the significant shift in demand from petrol cars to diesel cars.
Honda also faced trouble due to lack of auto component supply from its vendors in the tsunami hit Japan and the flood stricken Thailand. All these factors contributed to an overall decline in car production of the company and resultantly a decline in sales.