Bravo…It's Honda Brio!

A grand growth in the small car market in India seems prompting car makers to scale down their bigger cars and that's when big car maker Honda comes up with its small treat called Brio. Their super car Jazz failed to impress the B segment customers and the company believes Brio (which looks much like a scaled down Jazz) can fill the void.

Honda Brio is the next in line hatch back from the Japanese auto maker looking to grab a piece of market. The hatch was first showcased at the New Delhi Auto Expo 2010, and the car was one head turner with some stand out features at the auto expo.

Brio is entry-level hatch which means the company anticipates increasing demand from the time of launch date due to the increased demand for compact cars in India. Honda seems to be preparing well to face this, and the car will be produced in mass to meet the demand and reduce the waiting time too. Brio will be available in India and Thailand, and Honda will release a unique version of the car to fit the customers demand in these countries. Honda will cut down on production costs by using local parts and raw materials to build the Brio.

The compact bold hatchback is expected to be tailor made for the Indian customers and from the amazing ground clearance and high claimed fuel mileage it is so clear. Honda promises nothing short of the best from the Brio whether it is looks or performance.

The small cutie from the Honda is waiting for official launch and there are rumors that it would hit the roads in another 10 days (if rumors are true by March 17th). The wait has been really long, but is Brio worth the wait? Read on....

Chassis of the Brio comes under 4 meters (3.6 meters long) which makes it squeeze easy into the compact car segment and makes one easily driveable compact hatch. Still, the car is spacious enough for 5 people (4+1) with dimensions of 3,610 mm x 1,680 mm x 1,475 mm.

Honda Brio comes with stunning designing and the front comes with 2 grilles; the upper grille is small and attractive with Honda emblem and logo at the center and the lower grille is elongated looking like an extended smile and comes incorporated with the fog lamps. The back of Brio is stunning to say the least and makes the car stand out in its segment.

The designing of back somewhat resembles General Motors' Beat designing, although Brio is more alluring and also bigger in size. It appears Honda has done a lot of research and homework in the styling and designing of the Brio. The low slung front design with superior interiors makes Brio stand out in the B segment and the interiors of Brio seem to compete with that of Volkswagen Polo.

The car maker has given due importance to safety features while not compromising on comfort features. It is expected that Brio comes with pushbutton keyless start (thanks to Nissan Micra that has brought the feature to the segment) and headlamps with projector beam lights. Boot is decent and the 4 door hatch comes with decent leg room and head room. It is expected that the rear seats will be foldable type and the driver seat will be height adjustable one. The dash will hint retro touch and it's expected that Brio will come with superior audio system with Bluetooth connectivity.

Brio will be run on the same engine (a 1.2-liter, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, SOHC i-VTEC) as that of the Jazz and it is 1192cc petrol engine. The powertrain produces apex power of 89 bhp at 6200 rpm and a maximum torque of 110 Nm at 4800 rpm, and the Brio comes in four variants; E, S, V, and V automatic and it comes 7 color shades of white, black, green, red, blue, grey, and silver and price options of Brio E at Rs. 4.5 lakhs, Honda Brio S at Rs. 5 lakhs, Brio V at Rs. 5.5 lakhs, and Brio V AT at Rs. 6 lakhs, respectively.

The top variant, V automatic, will come with specially loaded such as an automatic climate control system, power windows, EPS (electric power steering), rear defogger, remote central locking, rear wiper and washer, alloy wheels, colored door handles, and safety features including ABS which comes supported by EBD, ESP (Electric Stability Program) and TCS (traction control system) that make the car's ride safe on slippery roads as well. Brio comes with dual SRS airbags (for driver and passenger in the front).



It is expected that the Brio will have Macpherson Strut and coil springs suspension system (front and the rear). The car will have disc brakes on all 4 wheels. The car claims to give 14 kmpl and 20 kmpl mileage in the city and highway, respectively. What a great figure to flaunt in the segment?

Honda Jazz had an abysmal response despite being one fully loaded car with so called stand-out comfort features and interiors. The reason was that Jazz came with a hefty price tag which deterred Indian customers. Honda seems to have gotten its lesson and decided to put the Brio around a competitive pricing, in the Rs. 4.5 to Rs. 6 lakhs range. Until Honda makes another car this is gonna be the cheapest Honda car in India, wow!

For now the car looks irresistible but time will tell if the Honda Brio is a better bet as compared to Toyota Etios or Volkswagen Polo or the Nissan Micra in terms of features and the pricing.