City to drive Honda’s India sales in FY21: Gaku Nakanishi

NEW DELHI: Honda is expecting to grow volumes in the coming year on the back of new launches, chiefly the fifth generation version of its mid-size sedan City, the Japanese auto maker’s top India executive said, amid an upcoming transition to stricter emission norms that may disrupt the market in the short-term.

The carmaker, whose sales fell by more than a third in the first eight months of the fiscal year to a little over 77,000 units, expects the market to pick up from the next festive season, said Honda Cars India president and CEO Gaku Nakanishi.

Nakanishi expressed optimism that the company would grow sales in 2020-21, as the flagship City model’s new version helps drive volumes. “After the market adjusts in the BS-VI regime, we think that the industry will gradually start recovering from next festive season.