Sales of Honda Civic Hybrid, the country's first hybrid car launched in June this year, have surpassed the company's expectations. Since July, when the hybrid vehicle went for sale, Honda Siel has sold about 50 hybrid cars in the country, mostly to dealers of Honda cars and a small proportion to high networth individuals.
"We find the retail customers of Civic Hybrid to be well travelled and techno-savvy. Also, their decision to buy Civic Hybrid stems from a need to save the environment through better fuel consumption," said Jnaneswar Sen, senior general manager (marketing), Honda Siel.
However, the encouraging sales of Civic Hybrid, the most expensive mid-size sedan costing an extra Rs 10 lakh over the petrol version of Civic, have not made the company revise its initial sales target upwards. At the launch of Civic Hyrbrid, the company said it hoped to sell about 200 units of the green car.
Imported from Japan as a completely built unit (CBU), the car attracts a customs duty of 104 per cent (the 10 per cent excise duty cut spelt in this year's Union Budget has been factored in) and is priced at Rs 21.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Civic Hybrid is 47 per cent more efficient. It means, on an average, it gives an extra 5-7 km over and above the 10 km logged by the petrol version of Civic.