Honda’s Indian unit has again confirmed it will launch a new car smaller than the Jazz (Fit) in the emerging market, but not for some time.
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Honda Siel is building its second assembly plant and is setting up a new R&D centre.
“We are designing a small car which will be launched a few years down the line,” Jnaneswar Sen, marketing chief of Honda Siel Cars India, said at a launch event for the new locally-built City sedan. India is the second market to get the redesigned car after Thailand, home to the model’s ‘mother plant’.
That new car would be positioned in the B, B+ segment, Sen told the Economic Times of India. The redesigned Jazz would be launched by summer 2009 with a 1.2-litre engine.
Sen said the second production plant at Rajashthan would be ready by the end of 2009 with initial capacity of 60,000 units a year, expandable to 200,000.
Honda Siel sold 62,000 cars in India last year, according to the paper.
