Exclusive Scoop! Honda begins testing 2013 CR-V in India

Our sources close to Honda who helped us break the news of the Honda City facelift last year, have now confirmed that Honda Siel has begun testing the 2013 CR-V on the Indian soil. The news comes in as a big surprise in the wake of rising petrol costs and when speculations are rife that Honda may discontinue its Civic line-up in India due to falling demand for petrol cars. The CR-V too has been plagued with diminutive sales figures since the potent crossover doesn’t come with a diesel option. In spite of that, Honda has begun testing the all-new CR-V in India. 

The CR-V that is sold in India currently is imported from the European market. Interestingly though, while the new model was launched in the United States a few months back, the European version has only be shown in production form a few weeks back. As compared to the US model, the European version is slightly different in appearance with a few changes to the bumpers and the headlight detailing. 

The American versions continue to use the 2.0-litre and 2.4-litre petrol versions, but the European model carries forward the 2.0 i-DTEC diesel engine from the current line-up and adds a new 1.6-litre turbo-diesel to the mix. We speculate and hope that the diesel versions are being considered for India soon enough too. Though the current CR-V sold in India did come with a diesel option in Europe, the engine was considered unsuitable for our market due to the adulterated quality of diesel sold in India. But Honda was said to be working on customizing these diesel engines for the Indian conditions and we hope that they reach a positive conclusion in time for the new CR-V. 

Our sources have confirmed that the CR-V being tested right now is the petrol version. But considering the unoptimistic numbers that the petrol CR-V is attracting, rolling in the diesel option is imperative for Honda India. Taking into account the success of the Toyota Fortuner, Honda will aim at bringing in the 2.0 i-DTEC version for India – but the frugal 1.6 turbo-diesel mated to a 4x2 configuration could make for an economically priced base variant – which could once again help Honda gain a stronghold on the SUV segment in India.