Honda has sold out almost a month and a half worth of production for the Amaze, its first model to offer a diesel engine, even before the launch on Thursday at an aggressive starting price of R4.99 lakh. According to company sources, bookings for the compact sedan have crossed 6,500 units after being officially opened 10 days back on April 1.
?There is a lot of hype for the Amaze, with online registrations itself crossing 25,000. Most dealers saw a rush of interested buyers during the launch on Thursday,? an industry source said. The early success of the Amaze mirrors that of the Mahindra XUV500, Renault Duster and Maruti?s Swift and Dzire models in recent times.
Though Honda officially has taken a booking fee of R21,000 for the Amaze, some dealers are believed to be charging higher amounts depending on the rush of interested buyers. In fact, some dealers contacted by FE said they were accepting bookings for the Amaze for the last two months ? ever since Honda began an online teaser campaign for the Amaze.
?We expect the Amaze to have a short waiting period. This will be good news for us after a wait of many years. There is a small capacity constraint at the plant, but any situation where the demand outstrips the supply is great news for us,? said a company official. Honda has allocated 4,000-5,000 units/month capacity for the Amaze.