The compact diesel car market in India is all set to witness competition with Japanese auto giant Honda on Wednesday announcing that the company was mulling launching a small car with diesel engine in India.
?Eventually, we will consider a compact size diesel for the Indian market and we are studying such possibilities now,? Takeo Fukui, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co, told visiting Indian reporters on the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show.
Currently, Tata Motors dominates the diesel engine market in small cars with its ?Indica? model while domestic car market leader Maruti Suzuki has also started selling a diesel version of its hatchback Swift with a 1.3-litre engine that it builds in Manesar.
Hyundai, the third-biggest carmaker in India, has also launched a diesel version of its ?Getz? hatchback and is also expected to beef up its portfolio here. Fukui, however, emphasised there were ?no immediate plans? to bring a diesel car in India and said that hybrids was one area where it planned to launch cars in India.
The company has said that it was considering to getting in the hybrid version of the ‘Civic’ sedan in India, though lack of clarity on homologation as well as other related regulatory issues has delayed its introduction. Honda, currently is a strong player in the premium sedan segment with its flagship ‘City’, is looking at launching two petrol-run sedans.
While one would be the all-new ?Fit? that it launched here on Wednesday (sold as ?Jazz? in US and other Asian markets), the second would be an all-new new model that it would develop for new emerging markets like India.