It is pretty much obvious that all the Indian automakers will have to start production of BS6 compliant vehicles before the April 2020 deadline. While most of the companies plan to roll out their cars ahead of the introduction of the BS6 norms, Honda Car India's strategy is no different. The company has shared that its entire product line-up will comply with the upcoming BS6 standards at least four months prior to the norms kicking in. On the side lines of the 4th edition of the CII Smart Manufacturing Summit held in Delhi today, Mukesh Manocha, Assistant General Manager, Welding Division, Honda Cars India, spoke to carandbike about the Japanese carmaker's preparations to meet the BSVI norms and said, "We will be ready much before the BSVI norms are regulated throughout the country." When asked about a specific timeline, Manocha said, "I will not give you the exact month now but yes at least four months before the BS6 norms kick in."
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Honda already has the technology and experience to get its cars ready for the BS6 norms. However, the limitation is BS6 most likely will increase the cost of the cars and significantly for diesel cars which will have to be fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter in addition to a Catalyst reductor and exhaust treatment system. Honda currently has two diesel engines in India- a 1.5-litre i-Dtec motor that made its debut in the first-generation Honda Amaze and also is the workhorse for diesel variants of the City, WR-V, Jazz and the BR-V. Then there's the 1.6-litre i-Dtec engine that made its way into the country in the recently launched Honda CR-V. The latter one is exclusively made for the Indian market and is being assembled in Honda's Greater Noida plant in India. Honda will consider exporting it at a later date.
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Honda is planning to bring five new models in the Indian market in next three years. The upcoming big lunch is the Honda Civic facelift which was recently unveiled. The Honda Civic facelift is powered by a 140 bhp, 1.8 litre petrol engine in the global market, however; it's likely to get a bump up in the power output for the Indian market. One among the five new launches will also be the a compact SUV- Honda HR-V (known as Vezel in some foreign markets) that will go up against the Hyundai Creta.
