T. Oyama, president and CEO of Asian Honda Motor, flanked by M. Takedagawa (right), president and CEO of Honda Siel Cars India and H. Iwata, operating officer of Honda Motor, in Greater Noida on Monday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, Feb. 25: Honda Siel Cars today said it would expand its dealership network across 90 cities in the next three years.

“In preparation for Honda's planned foray into the compact car segment, we are expanding our dealership network to 160 in 90 cities in the next three years,” said M. Takedagawa, president and CEO of Honda Siel Cars India. The company has a network of 80 dealers in 51 cities now.

The company will also expand its production capacity to 1,60,000 units by the end of next year. Honda Siel will hike its capacity to 1,00,000 units at its Greater Noida facility from 50,000 units now.

The car maker has invested Rs 400 crore in capacity expansion, which takes its total investment to Rs 1,620 crore since it started operations in India in 1997.

Honda Siel is setting up a manufacturing facility in Rajasthan, where it expects to start production with an initial capacity of 60,000 units.

The company expects to launch its small car, the Jazz, in India next year. The car will be made in India with 80 per cent parts sourced locally, company sources said.

The company will use its plant in Rajasthan to mark its foray into the high-volume compact car segment, which according to estimates has a market share of over 75 per cent. The company manufactures three models in India, the Accord, City and Civic, while it imports a sports utility vehicle, the CR-V.

According to statistics available, the country’s passenger car market has doubled in the past five years and may triple to three million vehicles a year by 2015.