Honda WRV Removed From Site - 5 Reasons Why It Failed

Please note that these are our author’s opinions and may not be the actual reasons behind its failure. In hindsight, it’s a lot easier to say why something worked or didn’t work. It’s way more difficult to have the foresight to make similar predictions, then stand by the claims and own the mistake when the estimations don’t meet the reality. Without further ado, let’s now get to the list.

Also Read: Honda City 4th-Gen Discontinued - 3 Things To Know

1. Styling

While the WRV offered a unique and muscular styling over the Jazz it was based on, it wasn’t muscular enough to compete with the Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Venue and Maruti Brezza. It still sold in good numbers for the first few years but failed to keep up later despite a growing demand for small SUVs.

To some extent, it made good sense for buyers who weren't ready for the Honda City yet but wanted something bigger than the Jazz. The WRV shared the cabin bits with the City 4th gen while sharing some of its exterior design details with the Jazz.

2. 1.2L Normal Petrol Engine

The 1.2L normal petrol, especially with the large 16-inch wheels, was not up to the task to move the WRV with urgency. While it has the power and revs happily, there’s a big torque gap at lower RPMs as it peaks at a fairly high 4800rpm.

Even at its peak, its torque output was 3-5Nm behind its competition. The bottom end and mid range were weak areas of this engine and impacted its drivability. If you wanted to extract good power out of this engine, revving it up would drastically impact its real-world mileage figures.

3. No Automatic Transmission

In times where buyers were starting to prefer automatic transmissions, Honda never offered an option with the WRV. The 1.2L normal petrol engine of the WRV is available with an automatic transmission in the Amaze. However, the low bottom end torque of the engine along with the CVT automatic, the WRV would not have offered a decent performance to satisfy SUV buyers.

If Honda had decided to bump it up to the City’s 1.5L normal petrol engine, then that would have helped it with the performance. This move would have wiped away Honda’s profit margins as the larger engine would have taken away the WRV small-car tax benefits. So, Honda never bothered to offer an automatic transmission with the WRV.

4. Expensive Diesel Engine

Given the poor drivability of the WRV 1.2L petrol, the upgrade to the diesel engine was not just ‘an option’, it was THE engine to buy. The WRV diesel always carried a somewhat high upfront cost over the 1.2L petrol engine. But in the 2021 price revision, Honda made it even more expensive and pushed the price gap to more than Rs. 2.0 lakh (ex-showroom). To find out if the upgrade to the WRV diesel still made sense or not, I did all the math and published the following article:

Also Read: Is Honda WRV Diesel Still Worth Buying? WRV Petrol Vs Diesel

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With the higher price gaps, the km-to-breakeven figure for the more efficient diesel engine jumped up to almost 85,000km. However, it still made sense if you liked the WRV but didn’t want the slow-to-respond 1.2L normal petrol engine.

5. Competitive Segment

Here’s the double-edged sword that comes with an expanding segment: it gets very competitive. The B2-SUV segment sells around 70,000 units every month. It’s so lucrative, Maruti Suzuki are adding 2 more cars to this segment very soon — Jimny and Fronx. So, even if you grab a small piece of the pie, you could do well. But this volume is what attracts all carmakers into it and that is exactly what makes it so cutthroat.

Honda didn’t update their WRV enough to fend off the competition like the Venue, Sonet, C3, Kiger and Magnite. Nor did they offer any price incentives to keep the WRV relevant for B2-segment SUV buyers.

Also Read: B2-Segment SUV Feb 2023 Cars Sales Analysis – MoM, YoY Change

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