Spied - Honda Amaze CNG spotted testing for the first time

To be offered with the 1.2L petrol.

Honda Cars India will soon launch a CNG variant on the Amaze compact sedan, and seen here is the very first spyshot of the car on test in Noida. The CNG variant will be launched on the petrol-engined Amaze which is powered by a 1.2-liter four-cylinder i-VTEC motor producing 88 PS (86.76 bhp) and 109 Nm of torque.

Though the Amaze petrol is offered with a 5-speed manual and automatic transmission, we expect the CNG variant to come with a manual transmission only, as pairing CNG with the automatic transmission would increase the price of the car. The CNG variant's meaning will be in its low running cost, and as is the case with Hondas, a high fuel efficiency can be expected on it. The petrol variant for example is rated at 18 km/l.

Currently, none of the Amaze's competitors (Maruti Dzire, Hyundai Xcent, Tata Zest) are sold with CNG or LPG option. However, in the sub-4 meter sedan segment, Tata offers a CNG variant on the Indigo eCS dubbed the Indigo eCS e-max.

Also read: 100,000 diesel-powered Honda cars sold in India

The launch of the Amaze has been a successful operation for Honda in India with over 100,000 units being sold within 16 months of its launch. The car is also exported to Nepal, South Africa and Brunei.

Competitor: Tata Indigo eCS e-max
Expected Price: INR 5.5-7 lakhs, ex-Showroom, Delhi
Launch date: Coming months

[Spyshot from MotorBash]