Within a week, both Honda and Nissan have launched new weaponry aimed at the hotly contested medium size sedan market in Brazil.
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Honda, still struggling to make enough Civics to meet demand, has introduced the Si, a real sporty automobile, rather than one made to look like it with cosmetic add-ons and wider wheels and tyres.
The latest Si has a six-speed manual gearbox, self-locking Torsen differential, electronic stability programme, 45-profile tyres, sports bucket seats and a 192hp two-litre engine with i-VTEC technology imported completely from Japan. Lesser Civics have a 140hp 1.8-litre engine.
For a few weeks this new Civic will reign as the most powerful Brazilian car, until the new 1.8-litre 195hp Golf GTi turbo arrives. Both engines require Super Plus-equivalent petrol for top performance for the first time in decades in Brazil.
Honda Brazil has set a high retail price of almost 100,000 reais ($US47,600) for its new flagship.
During the car’s press launch, Honda VP Kazuo Nozawa announced the conclusion of expansion work at the Sumaré, São Paulo state plant: “By mid-year we will have capacity to meet demand from local and export markets and dealer waiting lists will no longer exist,” he said.
The company is also making extra investment to increase local content in engines it assembles in Brazil.
Nissan, on the other hand, has made full use of Brazil’s free trade accord with México to rid its new Mexican-made Sentra of import duties, making it now price-competitive. With this competition from its Japanese rivals, Toyota will have to work hard to maintain market share for the now outdated Corolla.
The Sentra is built in Mexico mostly for the US market and its two-litre/140 bhp engine is among the most powerful in the category and is matched to either a manual six-speeder or a CVT automatic.
Nissan Brazil’s goal is to increase 10-fold the weak sales of the previous-version Sentra, from 70 to 700 units monthly.
Fernando Calmon
