The compact crossover had initially played a crucial role in doubling the carmaker’s UV market share in FY2018.
02 Jul 2020 | 35027 Views | By Mayank Dhingra
Honda Cars India (HCIL) today introduced the refreshed BS VI version of its Jazz-based compact crossover, the WR-V.
The company has taken the opportunity to also give a mild makeover to the car which was launched in March 2017 and is on the verge of driving past the 100,000 ...
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Honda Cars India (HCIL) today introduced the refreshed BS VI version of its Jazz-based compact crossover, the WR-V.
The company has taken the opportunity to also give a mild makeover to the car which was launched in March 2017 and is on the verge of driving past the 100,000 sales milestones in the domestic market.
As per Autocar Professional’s sales statistics, the crossover has sold 96,792 units till March 2020 with an equivalent 54:46 split between petrol and diesel variants, respectively. Of these, Honda had sold a total of 52,691 petrol-powered WR-Vs, whereas the number of diesel vehicles stood at 44,101 units during the three-year duration. Clearly, demand for diesel variants has been quite strong in the case of this family crossover.
Updated to BS VI but no automatic
Now going forward, as the company moves to update the powertrain to meet BS VI emission norms, Honda has kept both diesel and petrol options alive, unlike some of its direct competitors, mainly Maruti Suzuki, which has switched its Vitara Brezza crossover to be only offered with a 1.5-litre petrol powertrain in the BS VI era.
The updated Honda WR-V continues to get the 1.2-litre four-cylinder iVTEC petrol engine developing 89bhp of power and a 1.5-litre 100bhp diesel motor. While the petrol comes mated to a five-speed manual transmission, the diesel gets a six-speed manual gearbox on offer.
However, both BS VI-compliant engines continue to lack the option of any kind of an automatic transmission and given the rapid urbanisation as well as the convenience-seeking target buyer for the WR-V, Honda has missed the opportunity to bring an automatic which has been one of the reasons for its slowing demand when competition such as the Hyundai Venue offers the option of a DCT with its turbo-petrol motor and has seen as much as 40 percent of sales coming from the variant.
WR-V gets new verve
On the outside, the facelifted WR-V gets a series of cosmetic updates including LED projector headlamps with integrated DRLs, revised front bumper as well as grille. While the side profile remains same, the 16-inch alloy wheels have been updated with a new diamond-cut design. The car ends with a revised LED tail lamp cluster at the rear.
While the interior layout remains unchanged, Honda has updated the seat upholstery and added chrome accents at various places on the dashboard to uplift the cabin ambience. The sunroof which was the key attraction of the car when it was first launched continues to be there in the facelift as well.
Variants re-jigged
While the outgoing BS IV WR-V was offered in two trims – S and VX, Honda has re-jigged the variant line-up and introduced the facelift with SV and VX trims. Both variants will now get the company’s Digipad 2.0 17.7cm advanced touchscreen infotainment system with in-built navigation and multi-view rear-view camera.
The two variants will also get safety features such as dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, rear windshield defogger, one-touch driver-side power window and impact mitigating front headrests.
Honda has launched the refreshed WR-V in the price range of Rs 849,900 to Rs 1,099,000 ex-showroom, Delhi and in six colour shades. The company had closed FY2020 with cumulative sales of 102,016 units, registering a de-growth of 44 percent and while FY2021 has started off on a sombre note due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company would be betting big on the refreshed WR-V as well as the new fifth-generation Honda City sedan which is slated for launch in the coming days. We will keep track.