Honda: We need a world car

Honda Motor Chief Executive Officer Takeo Fukui has said in a statement that they are aiming to develop yet another world car for growth in the near future. The company currently relies on many low-volume models fulfilling the needs of specific markets around the world.

Honda is likely to overtake Nissan this year to become the second largest automaker in its domestic market of Japan. The company keeps a smaller lineup of cars when compared to rivals like Toyota and Nissan, but it’s this strategy that keeps profits high.

Honda believes that the Civic, Fit and CR-V are already world cars, and these cars on their own accounted for 60 per cent of its total sales combined last year. Fukui told Reuters in an interview “If we had one more global model, we should see stepped-up growth. That’s the next step for us.” This car could be the next-generation, low-cost hybrid car Honda is developing for a planned 2009 launch.

Honda has also shown that it’s savvy at repackaging the same car for different markets. Take a look at the three different types of Civics currently on sale around the world for proof.