When Honda made the world debut of the seven-seater version of the fifth-gen CR-V in Thailand in March 2017, it was obvious that it is India-bound. Now, Honda has told us that it will launch the same in the country next year. Expect the all-new CR-V to make a 2018 Indian Auto Expo debut with sales beginning in following months.
At its unveil in Thailand in March, Honda announced that its Thailand facility will start exporting CKD (completely knocked down) and CBU (completely built unit) sets of the new CR-V within a year. And the Indian CKD kits of the current CR-V are sourced from Thailand as well. So hopefully, the new model might be launched in the country around mid-2018.
Honda has also recently started local production of the 1.6-litre diesel engine that powers the new CR-V at its Tapukara facility in Rajasthan. This unit will be an export hub for this motor and the 1.6-litre diesel will be exported to Thailand as well. It will make things easy for Honda to plonk this diesel engine in the new SUV for our market.
The 2018 Honda CR-V will have a crowded segment to compete with here. Volkswagen has recently launched the Tiguan and Jeep is coming up the locally assembled Compass soon. Skoda is also bringing the Karoq (Yeti’s replacement), while Hyundai already retails the new Tucson.
Source: CarDekho.com
