Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) plans to set up its fourth manufacturing plant in India in Ahmedabad, Gujarat with an investment of Rs 1,100 crore. The new plant will be on stream by the second half of 2015 and will have an initial capacity of 1.8 million units annually. HMSI currently has three plants in Haryana, Rajasthan and Karnataka. After commissioning its fourth plant, HMSI’s capacity will increase from 4.6 million to 5.8 million units.
The company will create 3,000 jobs at the new plant that will mainly manufacture scooters. The company decided to locate this plant in Gujarat due to the increasing demand for scooters from the western region. Takanobu Ito, president, CEO and representative director, Honda Motor Company, Japan said, “The sales volumes of HMSI have already reached the second position for Honda’s two-wheeler business worldwide. We believe India may soon be the top market for Honda. To meet our customers’ demands and to reach them immediately, we will set up our fourth plant in Gujarat.”
New Products
To strengthen its pole position in the scooter market, HMSI has unveiled its Activa 125 scooter at Auto Expo 2014 that will be commercially launched this April. Activa 125 comes with telescopic forks, combi-brake technology, optional disc, tubeless tyres and a digital instrument console.
HMSI will also start assembling its highest displacement motorcycle – CBR 650 F in India from next year. The new sports model is equipped with an in-line four cylinder 16V DOHC engine offering 85.8hp at 11,000rpm with 63Nm torque at 8,000rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed gearbox and gives a mileage of 21kmpl. The CRB 650 F weighs 208 kgs, and is built on a well balanced high quality chassis with standard fit ABS, which makes it ideal for both touring and sports riding.
