Honda Cars India, the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of the Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda is planning to launch a compact sedan to be known as ‘Amaze’ in the early 2013. The new upcoming launch car is being developed on the platform of the Brio hatchback and will be available with a diesel engine option as well. This will also mark the introduction of the carmaker’s first diesel engine based car product in the Indian car market.
The Amaze which is expected to be showcased in Thailand by the end of November 2012 is claimed to have a mileage of 24 kilometers per liter with a turbo diesel powered engine. The diesel engine to be used in the Amaze sedan will be a toned-down version of the 1.6 liter i-DTEC turbo used in the Honda cars in its foreign markets and is expected to be 1.5 liters offering 88 bhp peak power and 110 Nm peak torque.
The new car will be available in both petrol and diesel versions and will sport a 5-speed gearbox. The positioning and pricing of the new car model is likely to rest between the Brio hatchback and the City sedan and the sedan is expected to compete with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki DZire and the Tata Indigo which are sub-4 meter car models.