Honda Launches Maiden MPV Mobilio in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Japanese carmaker Honda on Thursday rolled out Mobilio, its first mid-sized multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), in Maharashtra, where petrol and diesel variants are priced Rs 6.49 lakh-Rs 10.86 lakh (ex-showroom Navi Mumbai).

The seven-seater Mobilio, with its strong desirable values, is set to expand the MPV segment and will appeal to a diverse range of customers, the company said after the launch here.

The Mobilio comes with a 1.5L i-DTEC diesel and 1.5L i-VTEC petrol engines, developed at the company's R&D Asia Pacific centre in Bangkok.

"India remains one of our key strategic markets in the region and I am confident that Mobilio will contribute significantly to the company's growth here," said Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, Honda Motor Company's managing officer and representative of development, purchasing and production for Asia and Oceania region.

(Also read: Mobilio's launch forces Maruti to offer big discounts on Ertiga: report)

The MPV is being manufactured at Honda Motor Car India's facility in Greater Noida near New Delhi with localisation level of more than 90 per cent.

HCIL had earlier this year launched an all-new version of its mid-sized sedan City. Its other models include compact sedan Amaze and hatchback Brio. Amaze, unveiled in April last year, was Honda's first diesel offering in India, one of the largest car markets in the world.

"The launch of Mobilio follows the success of Amaze and all-new City which led to our exceptional growth of 83 per cent in the previous financial year."

"Our ultimate goal is to be the most trusted company in India and we aim at not only creating great products but also offering an unparallelled experience to our customers," HCIL president and CEO Hironori Kanayama said.

HCIL's target of selling 3 lakh cars per year by FY'17 was very much on track, he added.

At the Auto Expo held in February, Honda Motor Japan president and CEO Takanobu Ito had announced a sales target of 3,00,000 units annually by FY'17 in India as part of its aim to sell 60 lakh vehicles globally in the same period.

Although the Japanese carmaker has forayed in the MPV segment in India with the Mobilio, it already has a big presence in the global market in this segment with models like Odyssey, Step-wagon, Elysion and Freed.

The deliveries of Mobilio started from Thursday through Honda's distribution network of 179 dealers in 114 cities across the country, HCIL said.