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Honda to build Earth Dreams brand 'like VW's Bluemotion'

Date: 14 January 2013   |   Author: Jack Carfrae

Honda intends to follow in Volkswagen's footsteps by building its Earth Dreams brand of clean engines similarly to VW's Bluemotion range

Honda is planning to bring its new Earth Dreams series of clean engines up to speed with eco sub-brands such as VW's Bluemotion.

Speaking at the launch of the Civic 1.6 diesel, the first car to carry the moniker, UK fleet boss Lee Wheeler said: "In the next 18-24 months, the plan is to grow the Earth Dreams brand in a similar way to VW Bluemotion."

Speaking to BusinessCar, he continued: "What's key over the next couple of years is to use the Earth Dreams brand to build something on top of, because it's not just the diesel variants that will come."

Wheeler confirmed that there is a series of low-capacity petrol engines in the offing, which will also bear the Earth Dreams banner when they make production.

On the subject of the Civic i-DTEC, he remained bullish about the car's potential in the corporate market: "The size of the opportunity in the market that [this car] opens up to us is key.

"For the five-door diesel C-segment [lower medium] market in fleet, 78% of the market is sub-130hp, so 78% of the market suddenly opens up to us with that engine. To overlay that with 94g/km, it's right at the cutting edge of that marketplace.

"So we're right on the edge. I can't find anything that's coming in the foreseeable future, in that sector, with the same power and CO2 level.

"So we're being quite bold and saying that, at this moment in time, that car is the best-in-class in that sector.

"The biggest selling point of the Civic 1.6 is advocacy. Once you get a couple on a fleet, people start talking about them and you're away.

"My aspiration for 2013 is for our leasing company volume to be about 4% - that will be about 1% up on what it is now."

He said the engine was also expected to make its way into the estate version of the Civic, due next year: "We haven't said specifically which products it will come in, but with the Civic wagon looming in 2014, you could probably expect that we'll reach the decision that that engine and that car need to fit together."

Honda has already struck some fleet deals with the new Civic, including an 18-car contract with design and publicity company Codair and a 40-car deal with the Motor Neurone Disease Association, as Wheeler explained: "That was based on a whole life costs decision; they hadn't test-driven them.

"The idea of getting the RVs out in September was to build an order bank, which we've done."

He continued to say that the firm intends to broaden its reach with a radio campaign specifically targeted at corporate users: "We plan to do more in radio. Where do user choosers spend most of their time? In a car, listening to the radio."

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