Japanese auto major Honda expects its India business to get back on growth path as it gears up to re-enter the high-selling sports utility vehicle segment next year, according to a top company official.

The company, which is present through a wholly owned subsidiary in the country, does not have a presence in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) space, which has now become the largest segment in the over 30-lakh-per-annum domestic passenger vehicle industry.

The automaker in recent years has discontinued models such as the CR-V, BR-V and Mobilio in the market and now relies on its sedan portfolio — the City, City eHEV (hybrid) and compact sedan Amaze to bring in the volumes.

Honda Cars India president and CEO Takuya Tsumura said the company has taken several steps in the last few years to make its business constitution “healthy” once again.

He admitted that the company went through a tough time in the last three years, as globally Honda decided to move towards electric mobility. The process led to restructuring facilities and operations to conform to the new era.

Tsumura noted that the restructuring process led to various actions such as the closure of few manufacturing sites across the globe, including one plant in India.

“We did some restructuring in the last few years and it was a bit of a tough time, but I can now say it is done, the company now has a healthy constitution,” he said. Terming India as one of the most important markets, Tsumura said Honda has now initiated various initiatives like product introduction in the high-selling SUV segment.

“I can say that we have bottomed out this year and from now on we are only going to go up,” he noted.