All-new Honda Civic outsells Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra & Skoda Octavia in first month

Honda launched the all-new Civic in the Indian market last month to take on the likes of Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia in the market. The Civic has returned to the market after a long period of seven years. Honda skipped a whole generation of the Civic in India after the vehicle was first launched in 2006 and discontinued in 2011. However, the all-new Civic is back with a back.

The Civic has got into a flying start and according to the Japanese manufacturer, the car has already received around 2,400 bookings in just 40 days. Honda officially started taking bookings for the Civic from February 14, 2019. Compared to the rivals, the Civic carries a higher price tag. The base variant of the Civic is priced at Rs 17.69 lakh and the top-end variant is priced at Rs 22.29 lakh, ex-showroom. In comparison, the Hyundai Elantra carries a base price tag of Rs 13.81 lakh, Skoda Octavia is priced at Rs 15.99 lakh and the Toyota Corolla Altis is priced at Rs 15.7 lakh. Until now, Corolla Altis remained the best-selling sedan in the segment.

In the month of March, Honda officially dispatched 2,291 units of the Civic in the market while the Toyota dispatched 229 units of the Corolla Altis. Hyundai sold around 86 units of the Elantra while the Skoda sold 265 units of the Octavia in the market. In total, the segment saw sales of 2,871 units in the market out of which the Honda Civic contributed 80%. It sure is a huge feat for the newly launched vehicle in the market.

However, since the Civic is a brand new car, it will take a couple of months before the sales settle down and the dispatch numbers reflect the actual sales of the vehicle. Since Honda Civic is a brand-new vehicle in the segment, Honda is clearing the backlog of bookings and is also sending vehicles to the dealerships that will be used as test drive vehicles and display units. Such dispatches affect the overall sales figure but in a couple of months, the dispatch numbers are expected to settle down.

The all-new Civic is available in both petrol and diesel engine options but the petrol variant is more in demand. Honda offers a 1.8-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine that develops a maximum power of 139 Bhp and peak torque fo 174 Nm. It is offered only with a CVT transmission that can be controlled through the pedal shifters mounted on the steering wheels. The paddle shifters are standard across all the petrol variants of the sedan. The diesel variants get powered by the 1.6-litre diesel engine that also powers the all-new Honda CR-V in the Indian market. It generates a maximum of 118 Bhp and 300 Nm. The diesel variants are only available with a manual transmission in the market.