Will the Honda Civic Return to India?

Though the automobile market in India is undeniably grappling with some arduous conditions, the fact remains that manufacturers with germane products are doing quite well for themselves. Case in point, the Hyundai Verna and the Honda City. Same goes for other segments too. That said, I honestly believe there's still one segment whose potential is yet to be tapped i.e. the entry-level D segment. Also referred to as the D1 segment, this one fields cars from all over the world, including a Japanese, French, Korean, American, German, and Czech product each.

These are the ones with the ambition and will to weather the storm, and these are the ones that lead me to believe that there's some hope for the entry-level D segment in India. My hopes are not unsubstantiated, for the numbers really do talk. Take the Hyundai Elantra for example; industry reports state that 1,775 units of the Elantra were sold between May, 2014 and October, 2014. Next on the list is the Volkswagen Jetta, which received a facelift in January. The German bet in the D1 segment managed to sell 1,187 units in the last six months. The Czech threat to the Elantra and Jetta's sales came in the form of the Skoda Octavia that sold 1,048 units in the same duration. Chevrolet Cruze and Toyota Corolla Altis upheld the hopeful trend by selling 776 and 4,704 units, respectively, within the aforementioned duration. The only one to experience, how do I put this delicately, 'disappointing' sales was the Renault Fluence, which sold only 106 units.

Everything seems to be going perfectly well in this segment, albeit the missing Honda, or the Honda Civic to be precise. The Honda Civic has been missing-in-action since August, 2012, when Honda withdrew the Civic from the Indian market owing to poor sales. The Civic experienced a fair share of success soon after it was first launched in India in 2006. Its modern styling and price also endowed it with the title of segment leader at one point. However, that did not last long, courtesy the hike in its price and the diesel revolution in India.

Honda's refusal to give in to the diesel revolution despite announcing a 1.6-litre diesel engined Civic for the European market in 2012 hurt the car's sales quite a lot. So much so, that it often struggled to go beyond double digit sales figures towards the end. That was the Civic's fate in India.

Globally, it is quite a different story. The ninth-generation Civic sedan was launched in international markets in 2011 and came with a myriad of powertrains. However, the diesel options were introduced only in the European markets, and included the 1.6-litre i-DTEC and the now discontinued 2.2-litre i-CTDi engines. So a lack of diesel engines on the car can be ruled out as the reason for Honda's defiance. I don't see how bringing the Civic sedan back to India isn't a good idea, because from where I am looking at it, everyone stands to benefit from its return.

We recently gained access to data which confirms Honda Car India Limited (HCIL) imported a 9th generation Civic for research & development purposes. So, if the company decides to bring back the Civic to India, the best strategy would be to bring in the Civic 1.6-litre diesel sedan as it is. Considering Honda's recent success with diesel engines in India, I am convinced that the Civic diesel sedan will also perform pretty well here. Though rumours claim that Honda has written off the Civic's future in the Indian market, it remains to be seen if the sedan will return or not.