2014 Honda Brio based MPV to be fast tracked

The Brio platform hosts a hatchback and a sedan in the form of the Brio hatchback and the Amaze compact sedan. This very platform, aimed at emerging car markets will now give rise to a compact MPV. The Brio based compact MPV will debut in the Indonesian car market, a market that loves MPVs. Honda Indonesia plans to speed  up development of the Brio based compact MPV by appointing Masanori Hashimoto, the head of development of the Earth Dreams turbo diesel engine range, as the head of research and development at Honda Indonesia.

A speculative render of the 2014 Honda Brio based compact MPV

This appointment is expected to streamline the decision making process by having a senior Japanese Honda official to oversee the project. So, each decision needn’t go back and forth between Honda Japan and Honda Indonesia for clearance. The Brio based MPV is expected to rival the Toyota Avanza and the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga in the Indonesian car market. Given that Honda has hedged is bets on the Brio platform in India, the Brio based MPV is expected to eventually arrive into India as well considering the stiff demand for compact sized MPVs in the country.

The Brio based MPV is expected to be engineered to accommodate both a petrol engine and diesel engine. The diesel engine in question will be the 1.5 Liter i-DTEC unit that has made its debut on the Brio Amaze compact sedan. This diesel engine will power a range of compact Honda cars sold in the Indian car market. The next generation versions of the Jazz hatchback and the City sedan are two such upcoming models that will be powered by the 1.5 Liter i-DTEC turbo diesel engine. The Brio based MPV and the Honda Jazz compact SUV are the two other cars that are expected to be powered by the 1.5 Liter turbo diesel motor. Also, Honda is considering a smaller 1.2 Liter-3 cylinder turbo diesel engine for its future range of small cars.

Source Otomotif.Kompas Render Courtesy TheophilusChin