Honda launches Accord, to break even this fiscal

NEW DELHI, JULY 5. Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) today launched a luxury car Accord and said it would break even on its total investments of Rs. 460 crores by March-end 2002.

The 2300 cc car has been priced at Rs. 14.95 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi) and Rs. 15.75 lakhs for the manual and automatic transmission versions respectively, the HSCI President and CEO, Mr. T. Fujisaki, said at the launch here.

"We are confident the Accord will establish itself as the benchmark for the luxury segment in India," Mr. Fujisaki said adding the company expected to sell 2,500 units in this fiscal.

The Accord has a four-cylinder Vtec engine with features such as dual SRS airbags, anti-lock braking (ABS) system, eight-way adjustable driver seat, power steering and will be offered in five colours.

"We should break even by the end of March next by selling over 11,000 units," Mr. Fujisaki said. He said HSCI had invested Rs. 10 crores to manufacture the Accord which carries a localisation content of over 30 per cent.

The HSCI marketing director, Mr. Hajima Yamada, said the company had targeted to sell about 11,000 units of its mid-size City car and 2,500 units of the Accord during 2001-02.

Mr. Yamada said HSCI was also exploring possibilities of exporting the Accord to neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as completely built units (CBUs)."We are also adding six new dealers to our existing network of 22 by the end of this fiscal," he said. He, however, admitted that HSCI was behind schedule on fulfilling its export commitments as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government but said, "we are trying to attain our export obligations."

Stating the Accord was Honda's flagship car for over two decades being sold in over 130 countries, the Honda Motor Company Managing Director, Mr. Satoshi Toshida, said the new model was the sixth and the latest version of the car which has sold over 1.1 million units worldwide. The Accord is among the early launches in the emerging D car segment of the domestic industry and is expected to compete with other cars such as Hyundai Sonata and Skoda Octavia likely to launched in this year.

- PTI

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