Dongfeng Honda to roll out own-brand hatchback by 2010

Shanghai, October 21 (Gasgoo.com) Dongfeng Honda plans to roll out an in-house developed hatchback model by 2010, which will share the platform with the existing Civic sedan, xinhuanet.com said today.

When most automakers are struggling to meet their annual sales targets during a market downturn, Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co is enjoying the pleasure brought by its booming sales.

Dongfeng Honda vice executive general manager Liu Yuhe said, “We have raised the annul sales target by 10,000 units, bringing the total up to 160,000. But the actual figure is likely to reach 165,000 units, judging by the current market situation.”

The carmaker daring to raise the sales target mainly is attributed to the hot selling of its CR-V, but It is reported that consumers will have to buy CR-V at higher price.

The middle-class Civic posted stable monthly sales of 7,000 units, though not as good as CR-V. Rumor has it that the hatchback Civic will be produced in China. However, Liu Yuhe said,” We have no plan to produce hatchback Civic in China so far. Actually, the high cost has prevented us from introducing the hatchback Civic for production locally though we planned to.”

The hatchback and sedan versions of Civic are totally different, with the hatchback cost being 26,000 yuan ($3,800) higher than that of the sedan version, the executive said. The cost is too high, not to mention the selling price, which will not be accepted by the consumers, he added.  

To fill the margin of models, Dongfeng Honda plans to independently develop a hatchback model, which will share platform with the existing Civic sedan. According to the carmaker’s former plan, the company would launch a self-developed model by 2010.