How Creta rivaling Elevate SUV can shape things up for Honda in India – Times of India

Honda Cars India is all set to enter the ever-growing mid-size SUV segment with the Elevate that made its debut last month. With a launch scheduled for the coming months, the Honda Elevate will take on the likes of Hyundai Creta, the newly launched Kia Seltos facelift, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun.

With the discontinuation of WR-V and Jazz from its Indian portfolio, Honda currently soldiers on only with two sedans – Amaze and City.

While the two offerings continue to post decent sales numbers each month, the market trend has clearly shifted towards high-riding SUVs in recent years, and with no SUV in its line-up, Honda has been missing out.The company’s market share fell down to under 2% (June 2023), falling behind a range of other manufacturers. However, the Elevate could finally ‘elevate’ Honda’s market share considering that the upcoming SUV has received an overwhelming response as far as bookings are concerned. The Elevate could possibly go on to become the best-selling Honda car in the Indian market, overtaking Amaze and City.
The Elevate will be offered with the City’s tried-and-tested 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder i-VTEC petrol engine, making 121 PS power and 145 Nm torque. Features on offer include a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a seven-inch semi-digital driver’s display, an electric sunroof, wireless charger, cruise control and so on.

The Honda Elevate is also only one of the three SUVs in its segment to be offered with ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) safety tech called Honda Sensing. The ADAS safety features include lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation braking system, lane keep assist, road departure warning and automatic high beam assist.
Pricing will be key for the Honda Elevate to make its name in the cutthroat mid-size SUV segment. That said, we expect Honda to price the SUV from around Rs 11 lakh (ex-showroom), which will put it in the same ballpark as its rivals.
Would you consider purchasing the Honda Elevate over its rivals like the new Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta, Maruti Grand Vitara and others? Let us know in the comments down below.