Honda mulls new facility

Calcutta, Nov. 19: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Ltd is considering a second manufacturing unit in the country.

Honda expects to fully utilise its capacity at the Manesar facility in Haryana, by the middle of next year.

“Once we reach full capacity utilisation, we will need to set up another factory in the country,” Honda’s sales division head Y.S. Guleria said. The company is yet to decide on the location and other details.

The capacity at Manesar is 1.2 million units per year. “We will increase the capacity to 1.5 million units annually during the first half of 2010,” Guleria said. The unit is spread over 52 acres and became operational in January 2001. Honda has invested Rs 800 crore in the factory.

The company is planning to foray into the entry-level 100cc segment. “The bike will be showcased at Auto Expo 2010 and launched before the end of this fiscal,” Guleria said. The bike is expected to be priced at around Rs 45,000-47,000. “We had been working on this motorcycle for three years as we were always sure that the 100cc segment would continue to dominate the industry,” he said.

Honda plans to export the bike to some Asian and Latin American countries. At present, the 125cc CBZ Stunner and the 150cc Unicorn constitute the bulk of the exports.

The firm hopes to export about 70,000 units in this fiscal against 50,000 units a year ago.

Honda has a market share of 12 per cent in bikes and expects it to grow to 17 per cent in terms of sales in 2009.