Honda To Start Production Of Tenth-Gen RHD Accord In 2019; Could Be India-bound

Despite its sluggish sales last time round, Honda might consider bringing the new Accord to India as a halo model

The Honda Accord nameplate made a comeback in India in 2016 but with a heavy asking price which was further inflated with increased taxes on hybrids post the GST rollout. The ninth-gen Accord now retails at a staggering Rs 43.21 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), which makes it more expensive than the base BMW 3 Series and Audi A4! Not surprisingly then, the Accord didn’t open its sales account for the month of the April 2018.

Until now, only the left-hand drive versions of the tenth-gen Accord were under production as the Japanese carmaker had eyed this model for the US and China as its primary markets. But Honda might actually change that soon as Stephen Collins, director of Honda Australia, has reportedly said, "There just isn't any right-hand drive production. That will change and we're likely to source our cars from Thailand."

He believes that the Accord is an important model for Honda despite a continuous drop in the sales in this segment (in Australia). Talking further about the Australian market, Collins said that hybrids and electrics haven’t yet arrived in Australia. The current scenario in India isn’t any different either. But the trend might soon pick up pace as stringent environment policies come in place along with better infrastructure to support plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in India.

Making an educated guess, we expect Honda to bring the next-generation Accord to India as well. The tenth-generation Honda Accord is expected to launch in Australia by the end of the year 2019 so expect it to hit our shores around the same time. That would also make it one of the six cars Honda has planned for India for the next 3 years starting from 2018. The first car out of these six is the second-gen Amaze, which Honda has just launched in India. The next two are going to be the new CR-V (launch expected in 2018 festive season) and the new Civic (launch expected in early 2019).

The current-generation Honda Accord on sale in India is a CBU (completely built-up unit) and the next-gen model will also be imported in India, if launched. Like the current model, we expect Honda to introduce only the hybrid version of the tenth-gen Accord in India.

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