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Honda: two years to establish Earth Dreams brand

Date: 22 October 2013   |   Author: Jack Carfrae

Honda is aiming to establish its series of Earth Dreams clean diesel engines as a sub brand that is widely associated with low CO2 and high fuel economy.

Fleet boss Lee Wheeler had previously told BusinessCar he wanted to establish the brand "like Volkswagen's Bluemotion", but recently admitted that the process would take time.

"The newest of those [engines] started this year. The Civic was first in late February, so I'm probably looking at two years' time minimum before we get that understanding. [I want it to be] associated with cars that just do a lot of miles to the gallon with very little needing to be done in return."

The moniker currently applies to the firm's 1.6-litre diesel engine, which is available in the lower medium Civic with 94g/km, the CR-V small 4x4 with 119g/km, and will soon become available with the forthcoming estate version of the Civic, promising 99g/km. A series of low-capacity petrol engines is also expected later on.

Wheeler said the CO2 figures were largely a result of reducing the weight and friction of the engines. Speaking of the benefits of focusing on the engine, he said: "For a fleet customer that means using a car in the way you normally would.

"You don't have to do anything special - Ronseal took a march on me, but it does exactly what it says on the tin. Drive a CR-V or Civic 1.6 and you don't need to drive it in a special way, you don't need to need to treat is in a special way and it will deliver exceptional mpg."

Wheeler said it was too early to tell as to whether the brand as a whole was making serious inroads into the fleet market, particularly because the 1.6 CR-V only goes on sale this month, but he believes the early signs are promising.

"There are a number of two or three restricted-badge policies where Hondas have replaced Astras or Focuses purely on whole-life-costs. It means we can go to market and sell to a number of different customers. I believe that the industry is starting to focus more now on whole-life costs rather than maybe just 'what's the driver's rental?' or 'what's the employers' rental?'"

He acknowledged that the CR-V faces strong competition from the rival Mazda CX-5 SUV, which is also available with 119g/km: "The CR-V 2.2 is a little behind but the 1.6 will pick up the pace with that. We're at the sharp end with it. [The CX-5's] fleet performance is impressive. You have to hold it in high regard, but the CR-V also has an equally good proposition."



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