Honda to introduce Brio based diesel sedan in 2013

Honda Motors will introduce a new diesel sedan based on the Brio platform in mid-2013.The new car will be powered by a smaller four-cylinder diesel engine derived from the 1.6-litre ‘EarthDreams’ unit that was showcased with the 2013 European spec Honda Civic last month.

 The car will be sub-four meters in length enabling Honda to avail tax concession and price it in competition with the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Toyota Etios. Keeping in line with Takanobu Ito's (CEO of Honda Japan) goals, announced recently, Honda India will localise many of the components of the engine to keep costs down, allowing for a competitive price.

 The diesel mill is likely to have an output between 70bhp to 100bhp and get the i-Dtec badge. The same engine will later power the next generation versions of models like the Brio hatchback and the City sedan. This sedan (codenamed-Honda 2TP) will be the Tokyo based manufacturer’s first diesel car in the country and will be a model the company is banking on to revive its falling sales figures.