Reaching new high
HONDA: LOOKING TO ELEVATE SALES WITH OFFERING MADE IN INDIA
The introduction of the Honda Elevate might seem like just another SUV tossed into an already saturated salad. But to the Japanese carmaker, it’s a big deal in terms of its South African presence.
After establishing itself as a renowned local manufacturer over decades, Honda has found itself on a slippery slope in terms of sales for some time now. Times have been especially hard over the last few years with Chinese manufacturers flooding the local market with lucrative pricing.
Affordable SUVs is the major area in which the Chinese players have gained market share, and many other brands have been found wanting. Especially Honda.
There was a gaping hole in its local line-up between the WR-V, a small SUV starting at more than R300 000, and the HR-V, a medium-sized SUV starting at over R500 000.
That is why the Elevate is so important to Honda. At R369 900 for the Comfort and R429 900 for the flagship Elegance, the manufacturer has given itself the best chance to make an impact.
With the WR-V being discontinued, the Elevate becomes the most affordable SUV in Honda’s local portfolio. In fact, the only cheaper car in the stable is the Amaze small sedan.
“The Elevate is set to become a key volume driver for us,” says Callon Locke, product manager for Honda South Africa.
“It is the right product at the right time and at the right price. It will help us get into the minds of consumers.”
What will present a challenge to the expected sales volume is the discontinuation of the WR-V.
The Honda Elevate’s build quality will no doubt be questioned, at some level at least, due to it being manufactured in India. But Honda is confident this SUV will not be found wanting as the Elevate is the first India-built car to be approved for the Japanese market.
With its wide stance, bold grille, generous overall proportions and 199 millimetre ground clearance, the Honda Elevate definitely looks the part. LED head and tail lights are standard across the range, with daytime running lights situated above the headlight clusters.
From the side, the Elevate features distinctive square wheel arches with design lines on the body panels above them.
Standard on the Elegance are 17-inch alloy wheels, colour coded lower door garnish, roof rail garnish and LED front fog lights.
The cabin is stylishly finished and feels less plasticky than is sometimes associated with Indian-built products.
Standout features include a good amount of soft-touch materials and a simplistic layout.
The car’s overall length of 4 312mm ensures there is enough legroom at the rear to keep adults comfortable, while allowing for a big 458-litre boot.
Standard across is an eightinch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, smart keyless entry, rear parking sensors and reverse camera.
The Elegance benefits from eco-friendly leather seats, six-speaker sound system, electric sunroof, seven-inch digital instrument cluster and wireless smartphone charger.
In terms of safety, it features Honda’s advanced compatibility engineering, which is fancy talk for body structure technology to optimise occupant protection.
All models have vehicle stability assist, anti-lock braking system and two front airbags, with the Elegance equipped with additional side and curtain airbags. The Honda Elevate is powered by the brand’s tried-and-trusted 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC naturally aspirated petrol engine. It sends 89kW of power and 145Nm of torque the front wheels via a choice of six-speed manual transmission in Comfort guise or CVT in the Elegance derivative.
Honda claims the CVT Elevate will sip 6.1 litres per 100 kilometres and the manual 6.7l/100km.
The Citizen Motoring only got to drive the CVT during it’s recent launch. The engine performed decently, albeit at sea level.
What did impress was the CVT, which features G-Design Stepshift technology, which mimics gear changes instead of the usual droning associated with a CVT. But it does require the right input on the accelerator, as keeping your foot flat tends to bring the worse out of any CVT.
They say one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but the Elevate is a much-needed product for Honda.
We hope it’s not a case of too little, too late.
But for the moment, it should help them … Elevate their sales.