All the speculations came to an end after Honda declared that it is going to fit the 2012 Honda Civic with a 1.6 Liter I-DTEC diesel engine. This engine is the creation of Honda’s Earth Dreams Project, which has been going around for some time now in the Research & Development centre of Japan. As per information received by Indian Drives, this engine range of Honda is the lowest weight aluminum, open deck diesel engine of 1.6 liter in the whole world right now. Europe and India which are the key markets for Honda’s vehicle are looking for an alternative to the high priced primary fuel gas & patrol engines. Especially in India where the Petrol prices are going up like a shooting rocket, diesel engine in a sedan will be welcomed by all. This engine development is part of the Earth Dreams Project that has been going on in Honda’s Japanese R&D center for quite some time now.
Yauhisa Arai, who is the Managing officer, Honda R&D center (Automobile R & D Centre) as well as the Chief officer Operations Development, said to the PTI that they are very well aware of the inflation of petrol price in India, but they see it as an opportunity for their company’s growth in the Indian automobile market. Thus they are concentrating on developing diesel engine vehicles for the Indian market. Yauhisa also said that they are focused on manufacturing small compact cars for the Indian market as there is limited opportunity for big sized vehicles in India. They have already developed Brio, which is a compact car for the Indian market andwill be launching similar vehicles in the country in times to come. On the question of the possibility in the Indian automobile market, Yaushia responded by saying that at present China, Japan and US are the three major markets for Honda. But in his personal opinion, he sees India as the top market growth wise and will overtake China very soon and that’s why India’s automobile market will be their prime focus presently.
This top-class diesel engine which has been introduced by Honda with an I-DTEC displacement, pumps out 120 bhp at 4000 rpm on a prodigious torque of 300 Nm at 2000 rpm. The CO2 emission is 95 grams per kilometer in this engine, which is very low considering it’s a diesel engine. These are the meritorious characteristics which the Indian automobile customer is looking for at the moment and Honda is working hard to deliver them just that.
