There’s no other way of putting it – India loves SUVs. But, there are buyers, mostly sensible ones, who prefer buying a saloon over a high-riding equivalent. And that especially holds true for those upgrading from a pocket-friendly hatchback or purchasing a car for the first time. What do they point at? Yes, the subcompact sedan segment. One of the players in that space is the Honda Amaze, which graduated to its second generation in May 2018.

Honda says that deliveries of the second-gen Amaze have crossed 2,00,000. Considering that it has been on sale for less than three years, that’s an impressive feat. For the record, the sedan received its mid-life update in August this year. It kept all the engine-transmission combinations in its portfolio and has over 95 per cent localised content in its package.

In case you’re wondering, 68 per cent of Amaze’s overall sales comes from tier 2 and 3 towns. Also, the variant bifurcation shows that more than 20 per cent of total sales account for variants equipped with CVT. That gearbox is available with both the 1.2-litre petrol (89bhp/110Nm) and the 1.5-litre diesel (79bhp/160Nm). However, both those powerplants come coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission by default. With that in place, the diesel motor is gutsier as it produces 98bhp/200Nm.

Honda confirms that more than 40 per cent of Amaze customers are first-time car buyers. The car in question has been on sale since April 2013. Since then, over 4.6 units have found takers. As things stand, the Amaze is Honda’s least-expensive offering in India. The Jazz, a premium hatchback, has a higher starting price.

Over the years, Amaze’s list of rivals has shrunken. It competes directly with the Hyundai Aura, Tata Tigor and the Maruti Suzuki Dzire. Unfortunately, all those cars fall in the same price bracket as the sub-4 metre SUVs, including the Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger, Tata Nexon, Toyota Urban Cruiser and the Mahindra XUV300.