Honda Cars India is among the few passenger vehicle OEMs whose domestic and export volumes are keeping pace with each other. For the six months ended June 2024, the car and SUV manufacturer has registered domestic market wholesales of 36,871 units, up 3% YoY, and exports of 35,336 units, up 232% on a low-year ago base.
Honda Cars India, which retails the Amaze and City sedans along with the Elevate midsize SUV, is benefitting from its recent entry into the booming SUV market with the Elevate.
Halfway into CY2024, Honda’s domestic market and export sales are separated by just 1,535 units, with the Elevate SUV playing a key role.
In CY2023, Honda’s domestic market wholesales were 84,289 units and exports comprised 25,854 units. A back-of-the-envelope data check of the company’s dispatches in the first six months of CY2024 reveals that domestic market sales at 36,871 units are already 44% of CY2023 sales, and exports at 35,336 units have exceeded CY2023’s overseas shipments by 9,482 units with six months left for CY2024 to close.
At halfway stage in CY2024, Honda’s domestic market and export sales are separated by just 1,535 units. The company has hugely benefited from exports of the Elevate SUV – built on Honda’s Global Small Car platform – to its home market of Japan.
In the domestic market, the Elevate is riding the growing wave of demand for midsize SUVs and has been instrumental in bringing Honda Cars India ‘back in the game’, particularly in the booming SUV segment where it was missing on the action big time. In FY2024, the Indian utility vehicle industry hit record sales of over half-a-million units – 25,20,691 – and the Elevate gave Honda a 1.33% market share compared to FY2023’s 0.24 percent.
India is the first country in the world to manufacture and sell the Elevate midsize SUV, which has a localisation level of more than 90 percent.
Over 20,000 Elevates exported to Japan
While the Elevate has brought Honda ‘back in the game’ in India, it has also given a new charge to Honda Cars India’s export programme. The company has begun exporting the made-in-Tapukara (Rajasthan plant) SUV to Japan last year, where it has been badged as the ‘WR-V’ or Winsome Runabout Vehicle.
From the commencement exports to Japan, Honda Cars India has shipped 16,784 units till end-May 2024. Add the June export numbers, which should be in excess of 4,000 units, and the total volume of Elevate exports would have crossed 20,000 units.
Honda Motor Co, which launched and began selling the made-in-India WR-V in Japan on March 22, 2024, has targeted monthly sales of 3,000 units, which translates into 36,000 units annually.
India is the first country to manufacture and sell the Elevate, which has a localisation level of more than 90%, globally. Honda’s export strategy aims to make India as an important export hub for the new model to other parts of the world, catering to the robust demand for SUVs globally.