The compact SUV/ SUV segment is growing at the rate of knots in India which let carmakers to launch innovative vehicles to grab maximum pie in the segment. Our market is blessed with range of such vehicles such as Ford EcoSport, Renault Duster, Hyundai Creta and Maruti Vitara Brezza; the latter two are performing exceptionally well. It’s better late than never seems to be the motto for Honda Cars India as it is pepping to join the SUV segment by launching BR-V in India on 5th May 2016.
Honda showcased it at 2016 Auto Expo and now started the hardcore promotion by launching the teaser campaign and 20 days of road trip navigating through rough roads, mountains. Tagged as ‘Active Sport crossover’, BR-V uses the similar platform of Amaze, Mobilio and Brio hatchback.
Price and production:
Honda’s premium pricing strategy might not work with BR-V as rivals have aggressive pricing. The SUV will be positioned above Mobilio MPV and could be priced in the range of Rs. 7.8 lakhs for the base trim to 13 lakhs (ex-showroom) for the top end. With the production target around 40,000 units per annum, the vehicle will be manufactured company’s Tapukar plant, Rajasthan.
Engine details:
Coming to the specs, it will use the same 1.5l i-Dtec diesel and 1.5l i-VTEC petrol engines available on City sedan and Jazz hatchback. The former could develop 119bhp power and 145Nm of torque while latter will produce 99bhp and 200Nm of torque. The 6-speed manual transmission will be available as standard and petrol will feature a 6-speed CVT gearbox as well.
In terms of mileage, the BR-V Petrol manual delivers an ARAI certified mileage of 15.4 Kmpl and automatic petrol is good for 16kmpl while the oil burner develops a healthy output of 21.9 Kmpl.
Space and Dimensions:
Honda BR-V is not a sub 4m vehicle hence it will not get the tax relive benefits. It measures 4456mm in length, 1735mm in width and 1666mm in height making it the longest SUV in the segment. It offers ground clearance of 201mm and sits on a wheelbase of 2660mm.
The cargo capacity with all three rows intact stands at 223 liters and it can be further expanded by folding down the third row seats up to 691 liters while the fuel tanks capacity and turning radius stands at 42 liters and 5.3 m respectively. One of the highlighting point of the SUV is the seven seating configuration while its competitors offer cabin to accommodate five adults.
Design:
Based on Honda Active Solid Motion design technology, it sports the beefy looks with chrome laden front grille, projector headlamps with LED light guides, new front bumper with wider air dam flanked by chrome ringed fog lamps and faux silver skid plate.
From the sides, it looks like beefed up Mobilio and gets flared wheel arches, black side cladding, and 16 inch alloy wheels. Rear flaunts wide windscreen, C-shaped LED tail lights, chrome bar at centre and black body cladding.
Colors:
The SUV was showcased in red shade at auto expo but it will also be available with Misty green pearl, taffeta white, Crystal black pearl, lunar silver metallic and Taffeta white.
Interior:
The cabin and dashboard layout is based on Honda’s current portfolio of cars and comes with long equipment list such as automatic climate control, black interiors with black leather upholstery, Piano black finish central console, magic seats for 2nd row, rear ac vents, multi-function steering wheel with mounted controls, Start/stop button, keyless entry etc. Sadly, it misses out on touchscreen infotainment system with navigation and voice recognition.
Safety:
In the safety segment, the diesel variants will get Dual front airbags, ABS with EBD (electronic brake force distribution) as standard across the range while these features will be standard in mid or higher variants of petrol. Other noteworthy features include Hill start assist (HAS), front 3-point load limiters with pretensioners, vehicle stability assist (VSA), brake assist (BA), reverse parking camera etc.
