Honda Mobilio outperforming rivals in Utility Vehicle segment
October
01, 2014, 12:57 IST by Roger Dsouza
Though
there was never any doubt about the success of Honda Mobilio in India in the
first place, its performance, considering expectations too, has been spotless
to say the least. According to a recent statistical report, Honda Mobilio has
gone on to become the number two vehicle in the utility vehicle segment of
Indian market, outdoing Toyota Innova and Maruti Suzuki, which are considered
to be its top rivals. Data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
(SIAM) has revealed that Honda Mobilio registered a sales figure of 5539 units
in the month of August, thereby painting a telling picture and a sad one for
Toyota Innova and Maruti Suzuki Ertiga.
For
a new model to outdo established utility vehicles like Toyota Innova and Maruti
Suzuki Ertiga is no small achievement, even for a company as huge and popular
as Honda. Surprisingly, the list of utility vehicles, according to sales, in
India is led by Mahindra Bolero, which has a huge demand and customer base in
rural areas. Honda Mobilio, standing in second place, has managed to outdo the
much popular Ford EcoSport, which is perhaps the most popular model in the
market at the moment. Industry experts have appreciated the strategy adopted by
Honda to market the Mobilio and feel the success of Amaze compact sedan has
helped its cause as well. While Toyota Innova occupied third place and Ford
EcoSport maintained fourth, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga dropped to fifth position,
which is a worrying sign for India’s most popular brand.
Honda Mobilio
Jnaneswar
Sen, Senior Vice-President for Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India, spoke
about the success of Mobilio, claiming that joint families, who want a
comfortable seven seater, have been the main reason for the success of this
Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). "The response to the Honda Mobilio has been
very good from the market. We are confident that it will continue to expand the
MPV segment in India," he said.
Honda
has managed to sell 5530 units of Mobilio within the first 39 days, which is
quite remarkable given how small the dealership network of the brand is
compared to others. Speaking about the same, Subrata Ray, Senior Vice President
for Corporate Ratings at ICRA, a ratings firm, said, "Most often it is
seen that the first month of launch of a car, the customer response is quite
good."
There
are a number of factors that have gone into the success of Honda Mobilio, such
as brand reputation, quality, spaciousness and efficiency. One notion that has
catapulted Honda Mobilio above Toyota Innova and Maruti Suzuki is its
association as a personal vehicle more than anything else. Automobile expert
Murad Ali Baig, speaking to Economic Times, said, "Honda has a much better
reputation and Mobilio has been positioned as a personal vehicle while other
competitors like Ertiga have mostly fleetowner and commercial buyers."
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