Saar: The new sub-4 metre sedan will be built at Honda’s Tapukara plant in Rajasthan.

Honda is all set to launch its second-generation Amaze sedan on May 16, 2018. Official bookings for the new Honda Amaze began on April 6, 2018, with a minimum refundable amount of Rs 21,000. To ensure that there isn’t much backlog on bookings made, Honda has already commenced production of its sub-4 metre sedan. It is currently being built at Honda’s Tapukara manufacturing facility in Rajasthan.

Recently we learnt that for the first 20,000 bookings for the new Honda Amaze, the company will give a special introductory price to customers. This was confirmed by Rajesh Goel, who is the senior vice president and director of sales and marketing at Honda Cars India Ltd. This gimmick to gain some early traction in sales was also undertaken by Hyundai Motor India with its Verna sedan.

In its new avatar, the Honda Amaze is a far cry from its predecessor. And not just in terms of looks, which are now in sync with Honda’s latest design language. In fact, the new Honda Amaze will become the first car in its segment to offer a diesel-CVT combination. The engine in question is the same 1.5-litre i-DTEC unit that also did its job in the first generation Amaze. But with the CVT, it is available in a detuned state. The numbers stack up to 80PS of power and 160Nm of torque. With the 5-speed manual gearbox, those figures go up to 100PS and 200Nm.

As far as the petrol engine is concerned, it remains unaltered. It will also be offered with both the CVT and the 5-speed manual gearbox. But unlike the diesel, its power figures of 90PS/110Nm won’t change with the gearbox.

The new Honda Amaze is longer and wider than before but is a bit short on height. Its wheelbase has also increased significantly and that equates to more passenger and luggage room. Click here to read about those aspects in more detail.

The new Amaze is Honda’s most important product of the year. Once launched, it will not only take the fight to the Volkswagen Ameo, Hyundai Xcent, Tata Tigor and Zest, and the Ford Figo Aspire but also give the king of the segment, Maruti Suzuki Dzire, a run for its money.