Well, I hope one of my reader is an avid Japanese cartoon viewers back in the 90s, or the title will be weird.

According to GaadiWaadi.com, Honda India and Honda Indonesia will collaborate in making the next generation of the WR-V, the Jazz based SUV. Rumoured to be based off the Honda Amaze (Brio Sedan) chassis, the SUV will slot in the sub 4 meter car segment that received a favorable tax breaks than cars with longer size.

The Honda Amaze is Honda heavy hitter in India, carrying significant sales number out of all the Brio chassis (Brio, Mobilio, even BR-V). Building an SUV variant should be given as the Brio concept is Honda answer to same sausage different length platform sharing that offered high efficiency cost reduction.

My criticism for the Brio line has always been about what the car represents, cost savings, and nothing else. When the Brio and Mobilio debuted, it has borderline cheap interior, with uninspiring design and tachometer shade shroud that as useful as Donald Trump’s contribution to stopping climate change.

The collaboration between Honda India and Honda Indonesia SHOULD bear good results, since Honda is being beaten hard in Indonesia even though there’s so few automotive brands and models compared to what Honda India is facing. Honda Indonesia can learn a few thing or two from the Indian market, with the AMAZING success of the Amaze (… Get it? Get it?).

The original Amaze, still called the Brio Amaze when it was launched in 2013 is an oddball of a car, as it’s the Honda Brio hatch with an added trunk and extended wheelbase. The overall look, still retaining 3/4 look of a hatch with an added back end is just weird looking. Thanks for Honda brand cachet, the car still sells, although sellout drops constantly on yearly basis. Then in just 4 years time, one of the quickest full model change Honda ever pulled globally, Honda India revealed the second generation Amaze, dropping the Brio name and sales number skyrocketed. The car, now a properly designed sedan, looks great inside and out. The interior looks upscale enough, without all the weird textured plastic materials that unfortunately bestowed the first generation Brio/Mobilio and it’s competitively priced too.

Honda Indonesia have a similar fate with the Honda Mobilio, initially a wildly popular model in Indonesia, sales dropped to almost 1/3 today from its peak when the car was introduced. Increasing competition from Mitsubishi, Wuling, Suzuki, essentially makes the Mobilio a very bad value proposition. Honda Indonesia can learn a lot from Honda India for the next generation Mobilio, after all, MPV is still a very big market in Indonesia.

Here’s hoping the collaboration extends to the Mobilio.

Source:

Honda’s All-New Amaze Based SUV Likely To Replace WR-V In India