At the ground breaking ceremony of a new plant in Jakarta, Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), Honda’s automobile manufacturing and sales joint venture in Indonesia, announced that it is planning to produce a new MPV based on the Brio hatchback in Indonesia. The MPV is likely to be similar in look to the Concept S shown at the Beijing Motor Show. The Concept S is an MPV designed for the Chinese market and the company says a production version will be launched next year in China, followed by a global release. However, the Brio based MPV which is significantly smaller, is likely to slot in below the production version of the Concept S.
What’s for sure is that the Brio-based MPV will be produced in India to rival the Ertiga in 2014. The upcoming MPV will come with both petrol and diesel versions. You can expect this new model to come with an updated version of the City’s current 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol motor. However, the main demand will be for the diesel version, which is likely to be powered by an all-new motor (1.4 or 1.6 litres) that Honda is currently developing.
Autocar India first broke the news of Honda’s mini-MPV, plans last month.