After Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra, Tata and others, Honda has now confirmed a roll out of electric vehicles in India by 2023-24. As per a recent report by ET, four individuals aware of the company¡¯s plans have acknowledged that Honda will be following on its global roll-out of electric cars beginning 2019 and will target the Indian market by 2023 at the earliest. The first electric vehicle by the auto-maker in India is said to be a ¡®B¡¯ segment vehicle.
The report mentions that ¡°Honda is not waiting for policy changes to define its electrified vehicles footprint," essentially meaning that the company will already be ready with its product in the mentioned timeline, irrespective whether the guidelines will be in place or not.
Honda
The all-electric car roll-out will be following the hybrid solution of its sedan - Honda City, which is already in place. The EV road-map?suggests a ¡°B segment car or an SUV¡± as per the report.
Honda had earlier shown its interest in electric vehicles but had never mentioned a timeline for the same. Until recently, the company was completely dependent upon its petrol engine offerings in the Indian market. Just over half a decade earlier, Honda first introduced its diesel engine in India with the Honda Amaze. While it received a hearty welcome at the time, the company was already too late to the race, with its rivals having eaten up most of the diesel market share by the time. It seems like Honda does not want to repeat the scenario with the electric vehicles and hence will proactively be looking to launch its EV offerings in India by early next decade. Though it again lags behind the others, which are poised to come up with their EV products by as early as 2020.