Confirmed: Honda Atlas Isn’t Launching the New City in 2017
Yesterday I was reading an article by my fellow blogger and was quite glad to see that 2017 will be a really exciting year in terms of the local automobile sector. The excitement is also an indication that the all-time dull and boring automotive segment is now flourishing and more and more options are now being made available to the customers. A few weeks back, PakWheels extensively covered the launch of the All New Suzuki Vitara which means that the PakWheels team is all geared up to cover and share any news related to upcoming automobiles. While Audi Q2, SsangYong Tivoli and Nissan Datsun GO are something on forecast, the reveal of Ciaz sedan as well as Suzuki Celerio is something we are predicting for this year.
Now let’s have some icing on the cake. We had never expected that a newer model will be coming from Honda Atlas and that too this soon. Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited social media page has been teasing some images for the last few days. First, the page asked its fans “Are You Ready?” and then yesterday asked if they are dreaming. Well to be honest, it seems like a dream but a true one. A lot of discussion is in progress on the social media about this dream and how to get ready for it.
However, PW sources have confirmed that Honda Atlas hasn’t planned anything on introducing the 6th Generation Honda City during 2017, which means we are down to two (possible) options.
- The Launch of Honda Civic Type-R
- The Launch of Honda BRV
Many people are predicting arrival of Civic Hatchback, but its little tricky to have a hatchback. Civic hatchback is exclusively produced in Swindon UK and then exported; even to US, where there are already multiple Honda plants assembling company products. Honda will only manufacture hatchback in the UK and then export it to other consumer markets. Assembly of hatchback anywhere else is not planned. Even in Japan, the hatchback will arrive from UK. Honda spent 300 million Euros on UK plant to save jobs and keep Honda alive in Europe, that’s why Honda kept Hatchback production limited only to UK plant. So the launch of a hatchback has very slim chances, being imported and sold by Honda Atlas in Pakistan.
If we Compare the profile of headlight in the teased image and the actual picture, it reveals some similarities. PakWheels reported in the past that Honda BR-V Would Have Been A Better Option Than HR-V In Pakistan and I think Honda Pakistan has realized it very well after the launch of Suzuki Vitara and the response it got from the customers. Honda Pakistan has been missing something in this segment and BR-V can be the real option. It all depends on how Honda Pakistan prices it for the customers if in case BR-V is the upcoming product. Anything past 3.0 to 3.2 million can become problematic for Honda Pakistan because, then it will become the same case as Honda HRV and customers would opt for a self-import Honda Vezel, which is well-equipped, has better fuel economy as being a Hybrid and already has a strong ground in the market.
In International market, BR-V stands below HR-V/Vezel as far as the line-up is concerned so we can predict a price point below HR-V. BR-V is for sale in ASEAN countries as well as in India for more than a year. From the current ongoing operation, Honda Pakistan is not yet ready for the local assembly of the BR-V. We believe that anything new other than any current line from Honda Atlas will be in the form of an import and if BR-V is coming as CBU (completely built unit) it might be coming in from Thailand or Indonesia. Although BR-V is also being assembled in India, an import from there is not a possibility.
So what do you think is Honda about to launch? Is this a Honda BR-V or the Civic hatchback or something else?