The results of the Thai government’s eco car initiative have been 5-door hatchbacks so far but pretty soon we’ll see sedans as part of the eco car project as well, which will inevitably see the same cars be introduced in Malaysia since we are part of the same ASEAN region as Thailand.

Word in the industry is that Honda will is planning a sedan variant of the low-cost Honda Brio. The Honda Brio sedan is expected to make an appearance in 2013, about 2 years time. Other than a Thai/ASEAN introduction, the new Brio Sedan will definitely be offered in India to compete with the Toyota Etios.

Shouldn’t be too hard for Honda to do this – one platform has managed to spawn the Jazz (Fit), the City, the Freed and the Airwave (Fit Shuttle). The only thing would be if Honda will be able to pull off the transition from hatchback body to sedan body gracefully.

There have been some pretty bad results – just look at the last generation Honda City, or the Suzuki Swift Dzire sedan.

Rendering of Honda Brio sedan above by Theophilus Chin.

We’re reporting live from the 2011 Bangkok Motor Show, which for the first time is held at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, the biggest exhibition centre in the Thai capital. Ford attracted plenty of attention thanks to the all-new Ranger pick-up truck, which we showed you yesterday, but there were other noteworthy showcars as well. One of them is the Honda Brio, which made its debut as a production car in Thailand last week.

Powered by an an i-VTEC four-cylinder 1.2-litre SOHC engine with 90 and 110 Nm, this Thai eco car is the entry level Honda fighting tasked with fighting the brisk selling Nissan March. With two transmission options – 5-speed manual and CVT – the Brio comes in two trim levels, S and V.

As usual, official photos show the top spec car in the most flattering way, so our live gallery focuses on the threadbare S spec, which is priced at 399,900 baht in Thailand. We also have images of the highest V spec CVT model for comparison. Note that airbags, ABS and EBD are standard across the range, even on the kosong S spec.

There were many lining up to touch and feel the Brio, and I was part of the queue too. Space wise, it obviously felt smaller inside compared with the Jazz and Myvi from the segment above, but it’s far from cramped. The light colours did its part here, and the front seats are more supportive than those in the Hyundai i10.

Plastics are of course hard at this price point, but the panel surrounding the instruments and radio has a different texture and is of a different colour – it works well. At the back, yours truly and a fellow media member of a similar 175 cm height had no problems fitting in. Headroom and legroom is adequate with the front seat set to my position. With rear seats in place, the boot is a deep but slim hole, and the load lip is relatively high.

View the full live gallery after the jump.
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Right, here we go again. Honda has issued a recall on 18,056 model-year 2011 Civic sedans in the US for a potential problem that may arise with the fuel pump module, located inside the gas tank.

The problematic part in the affected cars is the roll-over valve, a component in the fuel pump module. Observations during assembly have revealed that the ROV – which prevents fuel from coming out of the tank if a car overturns – may have been damaged during production; a cracked roll-over valve may allow fuel leakage from the gasoline tank into the evaporative emissions canister if the car rolls over.

The recall begins sometime in mid-April to inspect and, if necessary, replace the fuel pump module inside the gasoline tank of the affected cars. Honda says that no crashes or injuries have been reported related to the defect.

Elsewhere, 33,341 Odyssey MPVs are also being recalled in the US to get their windshield wiper linkage rod replaced. Apparently, the wipers may be frozen to the windscreen in heavy ice conditions, and switching on the wipers without freeing them from the glass might bend the linkage rod, thereby rendering them useless, which is not a good thing of course. Again, no crashes or injuries have been reported due to this defect.

Honda Thailand today officially launched its Brio compact – the world premiere of the eco-car, as it’s tagged, took place at the Royal Paragon Hall at Siam Paragon in Bangkok earlier this evening.

The launch of the production A-segment Brio follows very closely on the unveiling of the car in its “concept” form at last November’s Bangkok Motor Show. The car was also spied very recently on the road in Thailand.

With no English press kit to work on, the reliance is on Google Translate to work the material off the Honda Thailand website, so let’s see what there is on the production car. It’s available in the Thai market in two versions, the S and the V, with both versions featuring a five-speed manual transmission, and the V is also available with a CVT transmission, making for three variants in all.

Both S and V versions are powered by an i-VTEC four-cylinder 1.2 litre SOHC block, offering 90 hp at 6,000 rpm and 110 Nm at 4,800 rpm; the engine – which is Euro-4 compliant – can utilise E20 fuel, and offers a claimed fuel economy of 20 km per litre.

The production car measures in at 3,610 mm long, 1,680 mm wide and 1,485 mm in height, essentially the same as on the concept, and has a wheelbase measuring 2,345 mm. Honda says that the short body of the Brio, in addition to providing good mobility and driving characteristics, allows for excellent visibility and makes driving and parking on narrow streets an easy proposition.

Much of the car’s selling point is also based on its interior space – there’s lots of headroom within the two-tone cabin and plenty of storage space at the back, enough to accommodate large bags, clothing, a stroller or even a golf bag. Presumably, some of these will have to see the rear seats being folded down.

Safety kit-wise, the car features preventive and proactive gear such as ABS – available across the model range – and electronic brake force distribution (EBD). There are also dual front air bags as well as seatbelt tensioners, again available as standard issue on all the three Brio variants.

Other features include halogen headlamps, a rear spoiler with a LED-equipped brake lamp, electric power steering, adjustable steering wheel, a two-DIN audio head-unit with USB and aux connections, sport design front seats, an alarm as well as an immobiliser system. The Brio sits on 14-inch wheels, wearing 175/65 series tyres – the base S model comes with steel wheels, while the V versions feature alloys.

Five colours are available for the Thai Brio, these being the hero green shade called Fresh Lime, Taffeta White, Cerulean Blue, Alabaster Silver and a pearlescent Crystal Black.

The entry-level Brio Model S manual transmission is priced at 399,900 Baht (RM40,300), while the manual transmission version of the V goes for 469,500 Baht (RM47,300) and the Model V CVT transmission variant goes for 508,500 Baht (RM51,235). Honda Thailand is expecting to move about 40,000 units of the Brio in the first year of its introduction.

Gallery of Brio pix as well as videos after the jump.
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