Honda WR-V sales still hovering around 10,000 in India; is the crossover on the right track?

Can crossover hatchback WR-V bring a fresh lease of life for Japanese carmaker Honda in India?The initial bookings are in the right direction, however, there are still plenty of challenges for the carmaker.

The WR-V made its entry into the niche segment in March this year. Pitted as a crossover hatchback and the first-ever compact SUV Honda in India, the WR-V was not a runaway hit. While the early reports suggested 16,000 bookings, the latest information indicates the numbers have gone up to 18,000.

Honda sold 9,919 units of the WR-V in India by June and the numbers are expected to touch 10,000 soon. But what could be a worry for the carmaker is the number of WR-V sold in May-- below 3,000. If the trend continues, Honda's crossover aspirations are likely to be dealt a severe blow in the country. The WR-V is pitted against the likes of Vitara Brezza from Maruti Suzuki and Ford EcoSport.

India was the first market to launch Honda WR-V globally and the WR-V is also the first model developed by Honda R&D in India. Priced at Rs. 7.75 lakh, the WR-V is offered in both petrol and diesel engine options. While a 1.2-litre i-VTEC engine, which can generate power of 90bhp with a torque of 110Nm at 4,800rpm, powers the petrol models, a 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel motor, that can pump 100bhp of power with 200Nm torque, does the duty in the diesel version. The transmission in the petrol variant is taken care of by a five-speed manual gearbox, while the diesel model gets a six-speed gearbox.

The WR-V comes with 2 interior colour themes – Urban Casual: Black and Bluish grey seat fabric and Urban Sophisticated: Black and Silver seat fabric. It offers digipad Infotainment with audio, video and navigation system, steering-mounted controls for HFT, audio, voice command and cruise control, one push start/stop button with white and red illumination, automatic climate control with touch control panel and more.

Source: Carandbike