LAHORE: Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited (HACPL) has announced that it will be releasing the HR-V in the Pakistan market very soon.
“The HR-V will come in a hybrid and non-hybrid variant. It will attract customers with its latest design and fuel average” General Manager of Sales and Marketing at HACPL Amir Nazir told Profit.
The HR-V already has a history in Pakistan. Its Japanese iteration, the Honda Vezel has long been imported in Pakistan by private dealerships as a CBU. However, this is the first time HACPL will be introducing the automobile themselves as a CBU. This will also be HACPLs first foray in the crossover-SUV segment.
A wrapped CBU variant of the HR-V was spotted earlier this year shortly after Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC) announced that it is planning to introduce the Corolla Cross in the Pakistani market and had invested $100 million for the endeavor.
HACPL has not given a timeline as to when exactly the HR-V will be announced nor a price that the automobile will retail for. “We can’t comment on the price of the car due to the volatility in the exchange rate. However, it will be priced very competitively to its competitors.” Nazir said when asked by Profit.
Competition in the CUV market will intensify in the months to come particularly with the introduction of hybrid vehicles to the segment. It should be noted that Haval is also expected to release a hybrid offering in the crossover SUV market, and the company expects to beat HACPL and IMC to it.
“Haval will be the first to release a ckd hybrid in Pakistan.” said Ammar Hameed, Operations Manager at Sazgar Engineering, to Profit.
How the announcement of HR-V will impact the Corolla Cross, the hybrid ckd Haval, and the rest of the industry remains to be seen. However, the crossover-suv market is now perhaps the market that all automotive manufacturers, old and new, are gunning for.
Already Peugeot 2008 is a quality car in reasonable price as a crossover SUV