Deal: Honda offers benefits to celebrate 5 lakh customers

Honda is celebrating having crossed cumulative sales of 5-lakh cars in India. To celebrate this achievement, Honda is offering benefits with various Honda models to customers who buy a Honda during the month of June.

The offer is valid for customers who buy the Honda Brio, City, Civic and Accord, but not valid on the Honda Jazz. It can be availed at all Honda’s 136 dealerships in 84 cities.

What’s the big deal?

The offer is not really a cash discount. Instead, it offers accessories or warranty benefits on various cars. Here’s the break up of what’s on offer.

Honda Brio

Customers buying a Honda Brio can look forward to a sort of discount on insurance, with Honda’s Rs. 1 only insurance offer. This insurance package is through “Honda Assure”. Normally, one would have to pay about Rs. 15,000 as premium on a new Honda Brio. This Rs. 1 insurance offer is only on select variants of the Brio (S and V).

In addition to the Rs. 1 insurance, Honda Brio customers also get an extended warranty on the Brio (normally worth about Rs. 8,000) that covers the 3^rd and 4^th year of ownership, once the normal manufacturer’s warranty expires. Brio customers will also get a 4-year road-side assistance cover, which means a Honda service center will send a vehicle out to assist any Brio customer stranded due to any fault with the car.

Total value of the benefits one can get on a Brio is worth about Rs. 24,000. This takes quite a chunk out of the on-road price of the Brio, which makes it much better value compared to the Maruti Ritz or the Hyundai i10.

Honda City

Honda City customers as well can avail of a Rs. 1 insurance offer on the City. Normally one would have to pay about Rs. 22,000 as insurance premium on the City. In addition, to the insurance, City buyers can also get an extended warranty package (worth about Rs. 10,000) for free with the car and a four-year road-side assistance assurance.

The total value of the benefits offered with the City is about Rs. 35,000 (depending on the variant). With these benefits, the Honda City appears to be better value than the Skoda Rapid and Volkswagen Vento.

Honda Civic

Buyers of the Honda Civic can also look forward to some freebies, which includes discounted insurance at a token Rs. 1 premium. Normal insurance premium on the Civic is otherwise about Rs. 35,000. With the top-end automatic version of the Civic, Honda is also throwing in an AVN (audio-visual navigation) system that is worth about Rs. 45,000 or so in place of the regular music system.

The total value of the benefits on the Honda Civic is about Rs. 85,000.

Honda Accord

Accord buyers can also look at a waive off of the first premium on insurance, with a token Rs. 1 scheme. Insurance is otherwise about Rs. 65,000 on the Accord. In addition, the Accord too gets an AVN system (audio-visual navigation) in place of the regular music system.

Total benefits on the Accord can amount to Rs. 1,25,000. These benefits do make the Accord slightly better value for the buyer, but it’s still more expensive compared to equivalent variants of the Hyundai Sonata or the Skoda Superb.

The Jazz does not have any offers on it, as the company still has plenty of pending bookings of the Honda Jazz to service, and is dependent on kits shipped from Thailand for the car.