New Delhi, June 22: Honda Siel Cars India is planning to enter the small car market in India, attracted by the impressive 25 per cent growth rate in the segment.

The Japanese car maker is studying the segment in India and plans to introduce a car with a sub-1.2-litre engine capacity. The company may come up with a new model for India altogether. However, a time frame for the launch is yet to be worked out, company officials said.

A Honda spokesperson in India said, “This is going to be a premium small car.”

Honda is already present in the small car segment in Japan and the US. Company executives said the Indian car would not be a variant of any of the existing models, though it could be replicated later in China or even in Europe.

In India, Honda sells the Civic and the Accord, which are in the family coupe and sedan segments. But the market for such cars in the mid-sized and executive segment is small in India compared with that for small cars, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the market.

Other car makers are also eyeing the lucrative small car market here. Toyota Motor Corp is planning to manufacture small cars for emerging markets, including India. Tata Motors is already working on a low-cost small car in Bengal. Nissan Renault has also unveiling plans for a Rs 1.25-lakh car for the Indian roads.

Honda has a joint venture with the Shriram Group and has no plans of any new tieups right now as its stake in the venture is a little over 99 per cent.

It also has a separate company manufacturing two- wheelers for the Indian market as well as a joint venture with the Hero group for motorcycles.

Last year, more than one million cars were sold in India. Sales figures are expected to rise by 12 per cent for another 10 years, according to analysts. This makes India an attractive market for international car giants.

Maruti remains the largest player in both the overall Indian auto market as well as the small car segment. It enjoys a 55 per cent share of the market here. In 2006-07, it registered a growth of 21 per cent against 16 per cent in 2005-06.

Last year, Maruti sold over 5 lakh small cars out of a total 6.3 lakh sold in the domestic market. After exports, the sales figure rose to 6.7 lakh. Besides the Maruti 800, Maruti sells the Zen, Alto and Swift in the small car market.