HONDA UNVEILS THE AMAZE

What makes the new car from Honda’s stable a delight for sedan seekers is its price. Despite incorporating numerous class leading features, the EMT variant costs Rs 2.55 million, the EXMT Rs 2.65 million and the SMT Rs 2.85 million THE domestic sedan

market is likely to witness new excitement with Japanese auto major Honda announcing the launch of its entry level sedan Honda Amaze. Honda’s local distributor Syakar Trading Company (STC) announced the car’s roll-out amid a programme in the capital city on Monday. Padma Jyoti, chairman of the Jyoti Group, the parent company of STC, STC chairman Saurabh Jyoti, STC vice-chairman Suhrid Jyoti and Shigeru Yamazaki, director and senior vice-president - sales and marketing at Honda Cars India Limited, took the wraps off the vehicle. The company has initially introduced the car in three variants, the Honda Amaze EMT, EXMT and SMT. What makes the new car from Honda’s stable a delight for sedan seekers is its price. Despite incorporating numerous class leading features, the EMT variant costs Rs 2.55 million, the EXMT Rs 2.65 million and the SMT Rs 2.85 million. The new Honda is likely to give stiff competition to the Ford Fiesta Classic and the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, the popular entry level sedan variants available in the country currently. “The Honda Amaze is powerful yet fuel efficient, comfortable yet spacious and stylish yet affordable. We are aiming to sell around 320 units of the car in the first year,” said STC chairman Jyoti. “We have been receiving many queries about the vehicle ever since its launch in the Indian market; and now since the vehicle has been launched here, we are expecting to see a very good sales volume.” volume.” Likewise, Yamazaki said that Honda was expecting a good market for the Amaze since it has been doing very well in the Indian market which shares close socio-economic and cultural ties with Nepal. “The car was launched in Nepal shortly after its Indian launch. Amaze has exceeded our expectations, and thus we are pretty hopeful about its performance in the Nepal market,” he added. According to STC, the Honda Amaze comes with a 1.2 l four-cylinder SOHC i- VTEC petrol engine which can deliver a maximum power output of 88 ps at 6,000 rpm and a peak torque of 109 Nm at 4,500 rpm, while giving an impressive fuel economy of 18 kpl for the model with a manual transmission and 15.5 kpl for the model with an automatic transmission. The grand concept for the all-new Honda Amaze, according to Honda, is a smart micro limousine which reflects the values of stylish design, compactness, manœuvrability and class leading space. Exceeding customer expectation, the efficient packaging of the Amaze adopts a right balance between rear occupant space and trunk room which helps to achieve one class above interior space with significantly superior knee clearance, head clearance and leg room inside the cabin and offers a class leading boot space of 400 l accommodating two pieces of medium size luggage and two pieces of small size luggage. The exterior styling of the Honda Amaze is smooth and strong with distinctive character lines from front to rear which ensures strong road presence even with compact dimensions. At 3,990 mm long, 1,680 mm wide and 1,505 mm tall and with a wheelbase of 2,405 mm, the Amaze offers a truly efficient package featuring superior design and spacious interior, the company said. According to STC, the Honda Amaze will be available in six colours—majestic blue metallic, carnelian red pearl, urban titanium metallic, alabaster silver metallic, crystal black pearl and taffeta white.