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      Honda Motor Co. eyeing India to boost the sales of its mass market bikes

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      The Japanese auto major Honda Motor Company has decided to foray into the Indian market with immense intensity, as exporting bikes from next year seems to be topping its to-do list. According to the automobile maker, the country is ought to be eyed as it would possibly emerge out as a future global hub, especially for mass market variants.

      Fully committed towards its plan, the company is expected to set-up a global procurement centre meant for large-sized motorcycles, along with commuter bikes in India. With this, Honda aims to boost up exports from the country as well as components.

      "We will soon start exporting from India. Earlier some of the motorcycle models were being produced by Hero. Now we would like to do it ourselves by next year from the new plant," Honda Motor Company Chief Operating Officer, Motorcycle Operations, Tatsuhiro Oyama confirmed the future project during the Tokyo Motor Show.

       

      Honda Motor Corporation
       

      In the year 2010, Honda and the Hero Group culminated their 26-year-old joint venture. As a matter of fact, the Indian partner purchased Honda's 26 per cent stake for Rs. 3,841.83 crore. The domestic motorcycle market has immense scope of interminable growth and if Honda is to be believed, India is likely to wear the crown in terms of motorcycle market in the coming time.

      "Therefore, we have lots of expectations towards its capability to export to the global market. Specially talking about motorcycles, we do believe India will become a global hub, particularly for the commuter type of models," Oyama said.

      Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), the  wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. presently produces three motorcycles that are meant to tap the mass market segment in India. The entry level 100cc bike CB Twister, along with executive segment motorcycles CB Shine and CBF Stunner find a place in the company's portfolio targeted towards largest group of customers.

      HMSI has two plants under its belt in India that are capable of producing a total of 22 lac units per year. It is important to note that the company is heading towards the development of its third plant in Bengaluru.

      Following the commencement of operations at its third plant, HMSI aims to attain a total capacity of 40 lac units per year during the initial months of 2013.

      "From the new plant we will be making motorcycles that can be sold within India and some can also be exported. We will start exporting to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh," Oyama added. As a part of its late future plans, the company would despatch its products to South America, South Africa and various ASEAN countries.

      "We are also developing a new R&D centre, which will have the capacity to develop products for the global market," Oyama was quoted as saying.

      Thus, with effective future strategies in place for action, it seems that Honda is considering the growth of its two-wheeler segment as its greatest priority, at least for the time being, with competition at its pinnacle.    

      Honda