Honda Civic Hybrid – What Does It Mean For Honda

Every time someone talks about a hybrid vehicle, the first thing that comes to mind is the Prius from Toyota. It has been a Hollywood favorite for a while now and has sold more than a few for Toyota to keep making it. Honda’s attempt at a hybrid, the Insight, was not a match for the Toyota though and Honda cut its life short.

Honda has already gone on record saying that the Civic Hybrid will be launched in India. Undoubtedly it will cost a lot more than the regular Civic, since it will be a CBU import. Honda will be happy even if they sell a few in the country.

Now why would Honda launch a hybrid in India knowing that it’s a cost sensitive market and that the car itself is not going to be anywhere near the regular car in cost as well as performance fronts. Actually Honda have played a brilliant round. One should not forget that ours is a country where mileage kitna hai is second only to the buying costs. The launch of the Civic Hybrid is a good thing in the long run. Here’s how.

There are (were) no regulations in the country for a Hybrid drive systems in cars. Honda has worked closely with ARAI in laying down the rules and regulations for a Hybrid Drive System for car. Everything they will be using in the car has to meet certain laid down rules. These rules have been put down by ARAI in conjunction with Honda. This will benefit Honda in the future and force other manufacturers to meet the same standards and functional requirements in their cars. Now Hybrid technology is relatively new as compared to the internal combustion engine, and all those developing their own versions of the same are going to differ. And no one is willingly going to share their intellectual property with others.

Secondly, with the fuel costs soaring virtually everyday the day isn’t far that hybrids become a common place. By then the costs involved in making a hybrid drive system would also have come down substantially. And with India being one of the largest car markets in the world, selling hybrids would also mean big business for the manufacturers. This is where Honda will definitely take a lead.

Also by introducing the Civic Hybrid, Honda would make a name for itself in the country as the one to go for as far as alternative fuels/hybrid systems are concerned. The FCX which Honda has shown on numerous occasions runs on the Fuel Cell technology and if the Civic Hybrid is able to garner the kind of attention Honda want, and fuel cells being the future, Honda will go up against the rest of the field.

So, again it seems that Honda has played their cards well and read the situation better than the rival Toyota. It will be a great see how Toyota reacts to this particular move by Honda considering it is a leader in this field in the foreign markets.