Honda BR-V Facelift: New TVC released [Video]

Honda has just unveiled the facelifted BR-V compact SUV in Indonesia. The SUV is expected to arrive into the Indian  market by the end of this year. Here is the TVC of the Indonesia-spec, facelifted Honda BR-V, which is available in  petrol-only guise in that part of the world.

For the Indian market though, the BR-V will get both petrol and diesel engines, as is the case with the pre-facelift  version that’s currently on sale. The Honda BR-V sold in India is offered with 2 engine options: a 1.5 liter i-VTEC  petrol with 117 Bhp-145 Nm. This engine is offered with 2 transmission options: a 5 speed manual and a CVT automatic.

There’s a 1.5 liter i-DTEC turbocharged diesel engine also on offer. The diesel makes 98.6 Bhp-200 Nm, and is paired  to a six speed manual gearbox. The engine and gearbox combination offered on the BR-V is a straight lift off from the Honda City sedan.

The BR-V is the only SUV in its segment to offer a 7 seat layout. The SUV rivals the likes of the Hyundai Creta and  the Renault Duster, and is much bigger than both these SUVs. However, the MPVish looks of the BR-V means that it  hasn’t found the same kind of success as the Creta, or to a more limited extent, the Duster. The facelift is meant to  inject some macho styling elements to the BR-V. The SUV now gets revised front end with the grille and bumper getting sharper. The rear end styling also gets a sharper bumper but the rest of the SUV is more or less unchanged. Clearly, the facelift is a mid-life makeover at best.

The interiors of the facelifted BR-V also see a revision in terms of the colour schemes used. However, the overall  layout remains unchanged, and the older dashboard is carried over. The BR-V gets twin airbags and ABS as standard  safety features. The facelifted SUV will also meet the BNVSAP crash test norms when launched in India. While the  changes on the BR-V does give it an element of freshness, the SUV is still not something that has changed  dramatically. So, it remains to be seen if the facelift does enough to actually boost sales of the BR-V in the Indian  market in a big way.

Later this year, Honda will launch another SUV for the Indian market. It’ll be called the HR-V, and will be a 5 seat  offering that will sit in between the BR-V and CR-V in terms of price and positioning. The HR-V will be a lot more  premium than the BR-V, and will be sold in petrol-only guise. Once the HR-V makes it to the market, Honda will have SUVs to address almost all segments of the Indian market. The entry level space will be handled by the WR-V, with people wanting a compact SUV getting the BR-V. The HR-V will sit in the Tata Harrier-Jeep Compass segment while the CR-V already operates in the Toyota Fortuner segment.