Honda To Build New Motorcycle Production Plant In India

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) plans to build a second motorcycle production plant to meet increasing demand in the motorcycle market in India.

The company said that it will acquire 240,000sqm of land within the Tapukara Industrial Area, Rajasthan, which is 40km from the existing plant and about 90km from Delhi.

HMSI said that is also expanding annual production capacity of its existing plant from the current 1.25 million units to 1.55 million units by the end of this month, with a further expansion to 1.6 million units already scheduled for next year. As a result, HMSI’s total annual production capacity will reach 2.2 million units when the second plant becomes operational.

The new plant is scheduled to become operational in the latter half of 2011 with annual production capacity of 600,000 units. It is expected to employ around 2,000 associates at initial stage of full capacity, and the total investment will be INR4.7bn.

In conjunction, HMSI is enhancing its product lineup with last year’s full model change of the Activa 110cc scooter, and by introducing CB Twister 110cc motorcycle in February 2010 in the 100-110cc market segment, which accounts for approximately 50% of total motorcycle market.