Honda Cars India, which recently launched the third-gen, highly localised Amaze equipped with a range of high-technology equipment including Level-2 ADAS suite, 5-year subscription for vehicle telematics, and an advanced body structure with 47% lightweight material composition, is confident about making a difference in the compact sedan segment.
16 Dec 2024 | 6591 Views | By Mayank Dhingra
Honda Cars India (HCIL), which introduced the third-generation Honda Amaze compact sedanon December 4 at introductory prices of Rs 800,000, ex-showroom, is eyeing a fresh charge with its latest product. While the Amaze slots at the bottom-end of Honda’s three-model portfolio which includes the premium City sedan and Elevate ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Honda Cars India (HCIL), which introduced the third-generation Honda Amaze compact sedan on December 4 at introductory prices of Rs 800,000, ex-showroom, is eyeing a fresh charge with its latest product. While the Amaze slots at the bottom-end of Honda’s three-model portfolio which includes the premium City sedan and Elevate midsize SUV, it continues to play a key role in the sub-four-metre sedan segment in India.
Along with the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Hyundai Aura and Tata Tigor, the Honda Amaze is one of the four pillars of the compact-sedan segment that clocked cumulative sales of 231,587 units in FY2024. However, with the onslaught of multiple models with SUV-like body styles in the Rs 600,000 to Rs 10 lakh price band, sales of hatchbacks and sedans are particularly impacted over the last few years.
While hatchback sales registered a 22% year-on-year (YoY) decline in the first three quarters of FY2025, sub-four-metre sedans witnessed a sales decline of 4%, in comparison. According to Kunal Behl, Vie-President, Marketing and Sales, HCIL, “This gives us great confidence that the lower sedan segment is a very strong segment to be in. Entry-level sedans account for 8% of the overall automobile market, with monthly sales of 23,000 units.” He further highlighted that while the hatchback segment has declined, the sedan segment has achieved a compounded annual growth rate of 2% over the last five years.
Therefore, with a more upmarket, feature-loaded, and high-on-quality offering in its latest avatar, HCIL is eyeing strong volumes from the new Honda Amaze by targeting aspirational buyers in the mainstream car segment. The company has taken an approach that focuses on technology and safety, and is confident to infuse new energy in the compact-sedan segment with the third-generation Honda Amaze that has already garnered over 60% of its bookings from the top ZX trim.
The new Amaze is the most-affordable car in India to offer advanced driver assistance systems or ADAS, with a cost-effective, vision-based system that offers a suite of Level-2 ADAS functionalities. The imported 160-degree view field, wide-angle camera module mounted at the top centre of the front windshield being locally supplied by Asahi India Glass, offers features bundled under the ‘Honda Sensing’ ADAS umbrella.
These features include active-safety functionalities, including adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane-keep assist (LKA), lane-departure warning, and a collision mitigation braking system (CMBS) that warns the driver with audio and visual alerts, and applies the brakes autonomously in case of a potential forward-collision hazard. The switches to activate and de-activate ACC and LKA are mounted on the steering wheel, while the 7-inch semi-digital instrument cluster that has been introduced from the Honda City into the Amaze, doubles as the display for vital vehicle statistics, as well as the ADAS notifications.
The Level-2 ADAS suite also gets auto-high-beam functionality, which continuously monitors the road illumination and automatically switches between low- and high-beams by taking cognisance of oncoming traffic. Uniquely, the company has integrated automatic headlamps with rain-sensing wipers for an added layer of safety during a downpour, and the new Amaze features a pair of dual-projector LED headlamps as well.
These locally-sourced headlamp assemblies that are being manufactured by India Japan Lighting (IJL) at Bawal, Haryana, comprise two insets of LED projectors – for low and high-beams - respectively. While the outer LED cluster offers the low-beam functionality, the inner cluster does duty for the high beam. Honda claims up to 28% higher road distribution pattern for the low beam of the Honda Amaze at 5 lux illumination, compared to its arch rival, whereas high-beam performance is also claimed to be better by 2% at the farthest end, compared to its chief competitor – Maruti Suzuki Dzire.
While it misses out on a 360-degree surround-view camera, the new Amaze features Honda’s proprietary LaneWatch blind-spot monitoring system that uses a camera mounted at the base of the left-hand side ORVM to relay its feed on the infotainment screen whenever the left indicator is activated.
CONNECTIVITY SUITE POWERED BY MAPMYINDIA
The new Honda Amaze also features Honda’s telematics suite – Honda Connect – which offers a basket of 37 connected car features, including remote engine start-stop functionality (only in CVT trims) through the Honda Connect mobile application that is being enabled by New Delhi-based telematics provider MapmyIndia. The connectivity suite offers features such as live location sharing, vehicle tracking, geo-fencing, tow-away alerts, as well as speeding alerts.
By tapping into the data from the body control module (BCM), the Honda Connect suite also relays information such as door ajar, window open, and lights on status, to the mobile application, and allows remote air-conditioning activation, albeit only for CVT trims, as well. The connectivity suite also offers compatibility with both Apple Watch OS and Google Wear OS-based smartwatches, and can pair with Amazon Alexa as well. Uniquely, HCIL is offering a free five-year subscription of the connected car ecosystem bundled with the new Amaze.
In terms of infotainment, the new Honda Amaze gets an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with an HD, IPS display that is mounted in a floating fashion at the centre of the dashboard. The infotainment gets embedded microphone for telephony, and a UI that offers multiple settings, including audio settings, as well as display colour, that are shown in a list. The system offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionalities, and comes paired to a six-speaker setup that delivers adequate treble and bass performance from wireless audio streaming.
The rear seat occupants get access to a mobile application that allows controlling the system remotely through Bluetooth. While the driver gets buttons for audio and telephony, mounted on the steering wheel, the company has given a dedicated ‘Mute’ button as well as auto-attenuation while reversing, amiss on the new Amaze.
Although the third-generation Amaze continues to be built on the same platform as before and retains its 3,995mm length, 1,500mm height, and 2,470mm wheelbase, the new model has been widened by 38mm to 1,733mm to liberate more shoulder and hip room, particularly in the rear half of the cabin. HCIL claims to have improved the rear-seat legroom by 70mm, and headroom by 12mm, compared to its chief competitor in the segment.
Apart from an active-safety net that aims to prevent a potential collision in the first place, the third-generation Amaze also scores high in terms of passive safety. The company says it has conducted in-house collision tests with high- and low-speed crash tests to ascertain adult occupant, child, as well as pedestrian protection with the new structure that leverages up to 46% high-tensile steel composition and deploys ultra-high-strength steel in critical zones in the BIW.
Although the car has not been crash tested by Global NCAP or Bharat NCAP yet, HCIL claims that the car is engineered to withstand crash tests that are even stringent than the regulations, which presently demand a frontal-offset barrier crash at 56kph. While the seatbelts are being sourced from Autoliv, Honda has provided rear three-point seat belts for all occupants, including three fixed headrests on the rear bench. While the 8-way manually-adjustable front seats now get side airbag with six airbags being offered as standard, the seats fall short on under-thigh support.
Honda has also recalibrated the suspension tune on the new Amaze with enhanced damping performance, and a quicker steering response by virtue of improved tracking and turning ability. The car boasts a segment-best turning radius of 4.7 metre which significantly aids manoeuvrability in tight parking and congested road conditions.
PROVEN 1.2-LITRE i-VTEC POWERTRAIN
While its arch rival Maruti Suzuki Dzire has transitioned to a brand-new, three-cylinder petrol engine that boasts of improved thermal and fuel efficiency in the wake of tightening emission norms, the new Honda Amaze continues to rely on the Japanese automaker’s tried-and-tested 1.2-litre, four-cylinder powertrain that features Honda's renowned i-VTEC technology. The water-cooled, SOHC engine delivers 90hp at 6,000rpm and 110Nm of peak torque at 4,800rrpm.
The E20 fuel-ready, BS VI Phase-II compliant engine comes mated to a five-speed manual transmission or a 7-step CVT, and gets claimed fuel efficiency of 18.65kpl for the MT, and 19.46kpl for the AT versions, respectively. The option of the CVT is the biggest USP of the Amaze that offers a superior automatic transmission over the AMT-equipped rival offerings. Honda also claims to have recalibrated the gearing on the manual transmission-equipped Amaze to improve low-end performance and torque. While the company has also introduced an engine under cover made of ABS plastic for enhanced safety, the Amaze continues to lack an integrated starter generator (ISG) for idle start-stop functionality.
The company claims to have also improved the air-conditioning system with a more powerful blower motor that enables up to 19% better cooling in the front, as well as up to 42% faster cooling in the rear part of the cabin with addition of rear-AC vents, compared to arch rival, as per HCIL. Honda has also incorporated a PM2.5 cabin air filter for cleaner air.
With Honda claiming to have received over 60% bookings of the new Amaze for the top-end ZX variant that exclusively gets its vision-based Level-2 ADAS suite, the company has hinted at the emergence of a new set of Indian car buyer, who is emphasising safety and is embracing advanced safety features.
Coupled with a high-on-localisation proposition, with the new Amaze scoring up to 90% net localisation levels, with critical parts being sourced from suppliers such as Bosch, Uno Minda, Nichirin, Nissin, Sandhar Technologies, and Motherson Sumi Wiring India, among others, the new Honda Amaze is HCIL’s latest attempt to introduce a high-on-quality, well-engineered product that will connect with buyers eyeing a premium experience from an entry-level sedan.