Honda Cars India Ltd has officially introduced its highly-anticipated SUV, the Honda Elevate, starting at an introductory price of ₹10.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The premium ZX variant is priced at ₹15.99 lakh.
Deliveries of the Honda Elevate will commence today, making it available across dealerships throughout the country. This mid-size SUV, which made its global debut in June, is set to compete with formidable rivals such as the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara.
The Honda Elevate lives up to its name with its elevated bonnet design and a remarkable ground clearance of 220 mm. It offers a spacious 458-litre boot space, surpassing that of its competitors.
In terms of safety and advanced technology, the Honda Elevate boasts Honda Sensing ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) features, including a collision mitigation braking system, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, road departure mitigation system, lead car departure notification, and auto high beam.
This marks the beginning of Honda’s plan to launch five new premium SUVs in India by 2030, and the company is placing significant confidence in the success of the Honda Elevate.
Takuya Tsumura, president and CEO of Honda Cars India, stated, “With the Honda Elevate, we make a foray into one of the most exciting auto segments in India. The tremendous anticipation surrounding this product underscores the trust our customers have in our offerings. Honda Elevate holds the potential to become a key pillar of Honda’s business in India, offering remarkable value to our evolving customers.”
Honda had been lacking an SUV in its portfolio since discontinuing the CRV and WR-V models.
Under the hood, the Elevate is powered by a 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine that generates 121 PS of power and 145 Nm of torque. It is available with a six-speed manual transmission and a seven-speed continuously variable transmission (CVT), offering fuel efficiency of 15.31 kmpl and 16.92 kmpl, respectively. The Honda Elevate can also run on up to 20% ethanol blended petrol.
In the CVT transmission, the base variant V is priced at ₹13.20 lakh.
The SUV comes equipped with a range of features, including a wireless smartphone charger, a 10.25-inch touchscreen, a 7-inch high-definition full-color TFT meter cluster, and Honda Connect, a connected car experience that allows users to control the car remotely.
Notably, the Honda Elevate does not feature a panoramic sunroof, opting for a single-pane sunroof instead.
Safety features include six airbags, a lane watch camera, vehicle stability assist with electronic stability and traction control, hill start assist, emergency stop signal, and a multi-angle rear-view camera, though it lacks a 360-degree camera.
Customers will benefit from a three-year unlimited kilometers warranty offered by the company.
In terms of recent sales performance, Honda Cars India recorded 7,880 units in domestic sales for August 2023, with an additional 2,189 units exported. These figures represent an improvement from August 2022 when the company registered 7,769 units in domestic sales and exported 2,356 units.