Honda unveils its new family sedan 'Amaze' in India

Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL), leading manufacturer of premium cars in the country, launched its much awaited family sedan, the Honda Amaze for the Indian market. The Amaze marks Honda’s entry into the diesel segment in Indian car market. Honda Amaze,offered as a perfect package for the current customer preferences, embodies the best of Honda’s technologies to deliver great performance with unparalleled fuel efficiency in a spacious, comfortable and attractive looking form.

Honda Amaze has been developed at Honda R&D Asia Pacific Co., Ltd. located in Bangkok, Thailand following extensive market surveys in India on people’s driving needs and lifestyles. India is the first country to launch the Amaze with Honda’s latest i-DTEC diesel engine technology. The petrol model of the Amaze will be equipped with the acclaimed i-VTEC petrol engine.

Speaking on the occasion, Hironori Kanayama, President & CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd., said “With the launch of Honda Amaze, we are looking towards newer horizons in the Indian market. We have worked on aggressive localization overcoming many challenges in terms of timelines, technology and costs to be ready to launch the Honda Amaze in India at an attractive and affordable price. This will enable more customers to experience the joy of owning and driving a Honda car.  With the best of both petrol and diesel technologies, we are very confident that we are ready for an exponential growth in our business in India. Amaze will be a game changer for us and over the next few years we will look to increase our operating universe in India to around 50%.”

Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President- Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd. said “Honda Amaze is a testament to Honda’s excellence in technology, fuel efficiency, performance and design and will redefine the concept of ‘family cars’ in India. With the launch of Amaze, equipped with the best of both petrol and diesel technologies, we are expanding and reaching out to new customer segments with the Brand Honda promise. Our first national campaign for Honda Amaze aims at creating a bond with Indian families at large and how Amaze offers them the transformation they are looking for.”

He added “Ensuring a strong after-sales support, Honda has introduced a special ‘Honda Care Maintenance Package’ on Honda Amaze’s petrol and diesel.This is offered at an attractive price of Rs.9996 for Amaze petrol and Rs. 15,375 on its diesel variant which is valid for 2 years or 40,000 kms.”

The All New Amaze powered by the 1.5L 4 cylinder DOHC i-DTEC diesel engine is the most fuel efficient car in the country with a certified mileage of 25.8 km/l, as per test data. In line with the objective of producing more power along with high torque at low rpm, the 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine of Amaze gives best in class max power output* of 100PS@3600rpm and 200Nm of torque@1750 rpm that makes the car so enjoyable to drive. The1.5L i-DTEC engine has been developed exclusively for India considering Indian driving conditions and is based on the Honda’s latest ‘Earth Dreams Technology’ realizing both excellent driving performance and offering matchless fuel economy.With an all aluminum cylinder head joined to an open deck engine block, it is the lightest engine in its torque performing class. The use of lightweight crankshaft and a number of friction-reduction technologies help to control friction in a diesel engine to gasoline engine levels.

* Diesel engine Power value has been rounded off on measured value
The 1.2L 4 cylinder SOHC i-VTEC petrol engine successfully delivers maximum output of 88PS@6000rpm and Torque of 109Nm@4500 rpm, while giving an impressive fuel economy of 18 km/l for MT and 15.5 km/l for AT as per test data.The emission from the Amaze meets the stringent Bharat Stage 4 emission standards.

The grand concept for the all new Honda Amaze is Smart Micro Limousine which reflects values of stylish design, compactness, manoeuvrability and class leading space. The Amaze design takes Honda’s “man maximum machine minimum” concept to a new level, maximizing the space available for people and minimizing the space required for mechanical components. Exceeding customer’s expectation, the efficient packaging of Amaze adopts a right balance between Rear occupant space and Trunk room which helps to achieve one class above interior space with significantly superior Knee Clearance, Head Clearance&Leg room inside cabin and offers a class leading boot space of 400L accommodating 2 piece of medium size luggage and 2 piece of small size luggage.

The Amaze’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body enhances self-protection while mitigating damage to other vehicles in the event of a collision. The Amaze features host of Honda’s active and passive safety technologies includingDual SRS airbags, Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) which prevents wheel locking, Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) which enhances braking performance, Pretentioner seat belts with load limiters and impact mitigating headrests. The ABS with EBD is being offered as standard across all Diesel and AT variants.The front body structure of the Amaze is equipped with Pedestrian injury mitigation technology designed to absorb impact energy.

The Amaze is available in 4 grades offered in Petrol and Diesel variants – E, EX, S and VX with Manual Transmission. Additionally, the Amaze will be available in Automatic Transmission in S and VX petrol grades.

Honda Amaze will be available in six exciting range of colors – Majestic Blue Metallic (New and exclusive), Carnelian Red Pearl, Urban Titanium Metallic, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl and Taffeta White. It comes with a 2 years or 40,000 kms warranty as standard value for all customers.

Honda Amaze is being manufactured at HCIL’s facility in Greater Noida, U.P. with localisation level of more than 90%. The body panels, critical engine components for both i-VTEC and i-DTEC engine and Manual Transmission are being manufactured in-house at HCIL’s Tapukara facility and are supplied to Greater Noida plant.

Bookings for the car started from the 1st April 2013 and the deliveries of Amaze are beginning from today through company’s vast distribution network of 150 dealers in 97 cities across the country. HCIL is continuing to expand and strengthen its dealer network which is likely to go up to 162 facilities in 102 cities by the end of 2013 – 14.