It has emerged that the recently launched Honda Vezel compact crossover won’t be launched in India anytime soon. It is being said that this decision has been taken due to weak Indian rupee, because of which Honda won’t be able to price the car competitively in India.
Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, managing officer Asia and Oceania, has said that localization of components of the Vezel in India won’t exactly be a feasible proposition. Citing an example of the Vezel’s electric handbrake, Matsumoto said that local component manufacturers are likely to put in heavy investments and high amount of time, whereas replacing it with a regular unit will lead to significant R&D costs.
With this, it Honda has clearly stated that the new Vezel is not coming to us anytime in near future. Also, all the rumors stating that the car was to be launched in India in early 2015 can now be rubbished.
The new Honda Vezel went on sale in Japan recently and will also be launched in US next year. The Vezel will reach European markets only by 2015.
The new Honda Vezel shares its platform with the latest generation Jazz and is on sale in Japan with two engine options- 1.5 liter petrol and 1.5 liter hybrid. The Vezel is available in both 2WD and 4WD layouts. For the US market, the car might also get a turbocharged 4 cyl petrol engine.
Following are Honda Vezel prices in Japan-
Vezel 2WD base petrol variant- 1.87 million Yen
Vezel 4WD base petrol variant- 2.08 million Yen
Vezel hybrid base variant- 2.19 million Yen
Vezel hybrid top variant- 2.68 million Yen.