Japanese carmaker’s Indian arm Honda Cars India (HCIL) has today unveiled a brand-new product — the Honda Elevate — for the domestic market. The mid-size SUV, which has been designed between Honda’s R&D centers in India and Thailand, has been developed for the Indian and ASEAN markets.
In India, the Elevate will be positioned in the highly-competitive mid-size SUV segment, which has registered significant growth in the past few years to now comprise 22 percent of all passenger vehicle sales in the country. Honda’s latest mid-size SUV will rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyrder, Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun, and aim to attract buyers towards its unique propositions.
The 4.3-metre-long Elevate is based on the Honda City sedan platform, and gets a slightly elongated wheelbase, which stands at 2,650mm, while wearing a crossover-styled top hat, and boasting of a segment-leading 220mm ground clearance. The five-seat SUV gets automatic climate control, a 10.25-inch infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as a single-pane sunroof.
While it gets all-LED head- and tail-lamps, the Honda Elevate comes equipped with Honda Sensing ADAS features such as collision mitigation, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and auto high beam. In terms of passive safety systems, the Elevate will offer rear-seatbelt reminder, emergency stop signal and ESC.
The Elevate comes equipped with Honda’s advanced compatibility engineering (ACE) body structure that uses high-tensile-strength steel for enhanced structural rigidity, while also getting a connected C-and-D-pillar design for better force transmission during a crash.
The Honda Elevate will come powered by Honda’s 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, DOHC petrol engine that produces 121hp and 145Nm of peak torque. The engine will come mated to a six-speed manual transmission or a CVT option. Honda will not bring its strong-hybrid powertrain to the Elevate and rather introduce a battery-electric version in the next three years. The company has already started development of the Elevate BEV and says its strategy will be in line with Honda’s global strategy of achieving two-thirds of its global sales from EVs 2030, and switching completely to electrics and FCEVs by 2040.
According to Toshio Kuwahara, Head of Regional Unit, Asia and Oceania, Honda Motor Company, “India is the third-largest automotive market in the world and is a significant contributor to Honda’s global sales volumes. India has also become one of the most important export hubs globally for Honda. Honda’s exports from India were pegged at 20 percent of its total production in FY23.”
“With our vision for carbon neutrality and zero fatalities, we will completely switch to selling EVs and FCEVs by 2040 around the world, including India, and increasingly offer the Honda Sensing safety technology suite,” he added.
According to Takuya Tsumura, President and CEO, HCIL, “Backed by strong and positive sales momentum for Honda City, HCIL registered a seven percent year-on-year growth in FY23. It also marked our highest-ever exports to the Middle-East, South Africa, Turkey and Mexico markets.
“The Elevate will soon become our third pillar of strength in our Indian portfolio after the Amaza and City. It has been developed as a global model to meet the growing demand for SUVs around the world, and India being the lead market, we have huge potential for exporting the Elevate to overseas markets,” Tsumura added.
Five new SUVs by 2030
Tsumura said that HCIL has acknowledged the growing trend of SUVs in the Indian market, and therefore, the company will introduce five new SUVs, including the Elevate, into its Indian portfolio. With EV sales continuously growing, Tsumura added, “We aim to introduce a battery-electric vehicle based on the Elevate in the next three years.”
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Honda Cars India to launch five SUVs by 2030, to bring in Elevate EV in three years