Honda To Sell Hybrids In India

Anthony Fontanelle
November 27, 2007

In the United States, more and more hybrids are being sold month after month. The reasons for this are the increasing price of petroleum fuel and the increasing awareness about the threat of global warming. But in other parts of the world, the demand for hybrid vehicles is not so overwhelming.

India is one of the fastest growing auto markets in the world but the demand for hybrid vehicles in India is not as high as it is in the United States. Honda though is making a bold move by introducing a hybrid vehicle in the Asian country. The Indian Times recently reported that Honda Siel Car India, the arm of the Japanese automaker Honda in India, announced that the Civic Hybrid will be made available to Indian auto buyers by next year. Honda is the first automaker to introduce a green car in India.

In India, hybrid vehicles may not be popular but alternative energy sources have already been tackled. There are vehicles in India which have been modified to run on liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, and biodiesel powered cars. The Honda Civic Hybrid will be the first mass produced hybrid car to be made available to Indian auto buyers.

The first hybrid version of the compact sedan Civic was introduced by the automaker back in 2003. For the Indian auto market, the automaker will be introducing the 2008 model year Civic Hybrid. The hybrid Civic has its advantages and disadvantages which Indian auto buyers would take into consideration before buying one.

A Civic Hybrid works and drives just like the Honda brake booster -equipped, gas-powered Civic. The only difference is in the source of power. Conventional Civics rely on the power produced by its internal combustion engines which burn gasoline. Meanwhile, Civic Hybrids have two sources of power. One of this is a small internal combustion engine and a compact and high-powered battery pack.

The battery pack provides power to an electric motor which drives the vehicle when the internal combustion engine is switched off. The battery pack of the Civic Hybrid is being recharged when the vehicle is running and during braking when energy is collected. Although conventional Honda Civic is already fuel efficient, the Civic Hybrid is made even more fuel efficient. One disadvantage though is that the hybrid version of the Civic is priced higher than the conventional Civic as it employs advanced technology.

Honda's senior general manager for marketing Jnaneshwar Sen pointed out that Honda is taking this step to make Indians more aware of protecting the environment through green cars. "Our aim to launch the hybrid version is not to add a huge volume to our sales," said Sen. "The idea is to bring an environment friendly technology to India and since Honda sells the Civic Hybrid globally, we want to offer it our Indian consumers."

Source:  Amazines.com