Red alert for Honda as production plummets by nearly 44 per cent in January 2026?

Despite growth for the Elevate SUV, a slim portfolio and high prices hinder Honda's competitiveness.

Japanese automaker Honda is facing a tough time in the Indian market as danger bells continue to toll, considering its decline in production numbers and domestic sales. The company recorded an approximately 44 per cent drop in production from 13,715 in January 2025 to 7,770 in January 2026. In addition to that, domestic sales of the company declined by 15.45 per cent from 7,325 units in January 2025 to 6,193 units in January 2026.

Honda faces a challenging period in India, with production plummeting 44% and sales dropping significantly

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Danger Bells Tolling for Honda?

Honda currently has only four products in its portfolio, namely the Amaze, Elevate, City and City e:HEV. The sub-compact sedan, Amaze, is the best-selling product for Honda, with 3,449 units sold in January 2026, which witnessed a decline of 25 per cent from 4,601 units sold in January 2025.

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The compact sedan in its portfolio, City, witnessed the sales of 501 units in January 2026, witnessing a decline of approximately 35 per cent from 765 units sold in January 2025. Additionally, the compact SUV, Elevate, witnessed the sales of 2,243 units in January 2026, witnessing a growth of 14.49 per cent from 1,959 units sold in January 2025.

Honda has been struggling to cement itself as one of the top contenders in the Indian market, where Maruti Suzuki and Toyota continue to compete for top spots against Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai, Kia, Skoda, MG, Renault, Jeep and Volkswagen, among others.

Multiple Reasons for Honda’s decline

Honda used to have an expansive portfolio in the Indian market in 2015, including Brio, Amaze, Mobilio, Jazz, WR-V, City and CR-V. The Japanese automaker, however, had to scale down its portfolio to three models only: City, Amaze and WR-V. The WR-V was later replaced by the Elevate.

Furthermore, the higher price point which Honda has set for its products has acted as a deterrent for consumers. Honda’s products boast a higher cost of acquisition compared to its rivals in India. Along with that, the slim portfolio of just essentially three products, along with only one powertrain option, makes it harder for consumers to find options.