No Honda City diesel sedan launch in 2012, confirms top Honda official: ICB Exclusive!

Ahead of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show that will happen very soon, there has been fresh speculation about Honda launching a diesel variant of its flagship City sedan in the Indian market, as early as this year. We got very interested in this seemingly big development and immediately got in touch with a top Honda official to confirm this story. Yet again, the Honda diesel bubble stands pricked as the Honda official clearly told us that Honda SIEL Cars India(HSCI) has no plans whatsoever of launching the diesel variant of the Honda City sedan in 2012. Therefore, the rumors of a City Diesel being launched in 2012 remain just that, mere rumors.

We also have gathered that Honda has no plans of launching any diesel engine car in India during 2012 from the HSCI official we got in touch with, consonant with the previous report we carried a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, it seems like the Civic Diesel too will take some time to arrive onto the Indian car market. Honda is the only mass market carmaker in India to not have even a single diesel engined variant in its portfolio and this hasn’t done the brand any good at the hustings, even as the Indian car market has shown a dramatic shift in preference towards diesel cars over the past few years. Honda though, does have plans of launching diesel engined cars in the future and a brand new line of diesel engines are being developed by Honda engineers.

In fact, Honda has deputed ex-Formula1 engineers on the job and the first diesel engine to emerge from this operation is the recently unveiled 1.6 Liter i-DTEC turbo diesel unit, which generates 120 Bhp of peak power and a superb peak torque output of 300 Nm. This engine will debut on the 2012 Honda Civic sedan. Honda is also said to be developing smaller, downsized variants of the 1.6 Liter i-DTEC engine which may power cars like the Jazz and Brio hatchbacks in the future. There is also some buzz about Honda unveiling another small capacity engine at the fast approaching 2012 Geneva Motor Show, which is said to be one of the most prestigious amongst auto shows. Watch this space.

Source;

http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/honda-city-diesel-sedan-launch-2012-confirms-top-honda-official-icb-exclusive-56370/

Honda may spend $650 mln to restore flood-hit Thai plant - Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co <7267.T> will completely overhaul its flood-hit factory in Thailand in a project that could cost more than 50 billion yen, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

Thailand's worst floods in half a century late last year hit Honda the hardest among Japanese automakers, with its 240,000-cars-a-year plant in the Ayutthaya Province in central Thailand submerged under water.

Honda, Japan's No. 3 car producer, has already started replacing equipment with the aim of resuming output in April, the Nikkei said.

Refurbishing the flood-hit factory will almost be the equivalent of building a plant from scratch, the Nikkei quoted an unnamed Honda executive as saying.

Honda may receive payment from insurers, which are still assessing damage at the factory, as early as in the current financial year to March, lessening Honda's financial burden to a certain extent, the Nikkei said.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Source;
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/honda-may-spend-36650-mln-to-restore-flood-hit-thai-plant-nikkei_651354.html

Honda City facelift spied! Launch could be in October

It is time for the all new Honda City to get a makeover. Honda is expected to launch the Honda City in October with a mid-life facelift. Honda recently dropped the prices of its products which has made the Honda City a very attractive buy among the other mid-sized sedan in its company. The new aesthetic package will only add to the popularity of the Honda City. Autocar India is carrying spy shots of the all new Honda City facelift testing.

The changes however, minor have helped freshen-up the overall visual appeal of the mid-sized car. The major change to the front end consists of a redesigned front grille finished in brushed black. The front bumper has also been redesigned and has fog lamps neatly integrated in to it. The car also gets new side skirts as well as rear bumpers with subtle sporty touch. The new alloys are from the Accord. The 10-spoke alloys enhance the sporty theme that is evident from the new aesthetic touches that have been added to the new Honda City.

The top-of-the-line variant of the Honda City is also expected to carry a sun-roof. Also, we hope Honda might add automatic-climate control, bluetooth and auto-retractable mirrors. The main competitors of the car offer these features in their cars and Honda might respond to this. If, Honda includes these features on the City, cars like the Hyundai Verna are in for a big battle in the coming months. The mechanicals on the car will remain the same though. The all new facelift Honda City will get the same 1.5 litre i-VTEC with 116 horsepower on tap. The prices of the car are expected to remain the same.

Source;

http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/honda-city-facelift-spied-launch-october-48468/