Honda HR-V may come to India; to be pitted against Hyundai Tucson

Honda Car India (HCIL) launched the BR-V compact SUV on May 5 and the vehicle has got over 9,000 bookings in a month. The Japanese company reportedly plans to capitalise the boom in the SUV segment by bringing the HR-V from its international portfolio.

The entry of HR-V to India can be expected sometime in 2017 if everything goes as planned, Cardekho reported. Yoichiro Ueno, the president and CEO of HCIL, had said that the SUV segment is the fastest-growing segment in India and if it observes further growth, the company will address it by launching new models. If HCIL goes ahead with the launch plan of HR-V, it will fill the gap between the BR-V and the CR-V. The HR-V prices can be expected in the range of Rs. 15 to 20 lakh and at that price point, it will lock horns against the soon-to-be-launched Hyundai Tucson.

Based on the same platform as the Honda Jazz, the HR-V is powered by a 1.8-litre in-line 4 cylinder petrol engine that develops 142bhp and 172Nm of torque mated to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT transmission. The India-spec HR-V may borrow 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol unit from the Civic coupe. The diesel option will be the 1.5-litre i-DTEC unit, which is employed in most of the diesel cars of Honda in India. The diesel engine in HR-V is expected to come with higher state of tune.