The new plant will complement Honda’s existing production plant in the Gurgaon District in Haryana, where production will be ramped up from 1.25m cycles per year to 1.55m by the end of this month, with a further expansion to 1.6m cycles planned for next year.
To build the second plant, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) will acquire approximately 240,000m2 of land within the Tapukara Industrial Area in Rajasthan, which is approximately 40km from the existing plant and around 90km from Delhi.
The new plant is scheduled to become operational in the latter half of 2011 with annual production capacity of 600,000 units. When it becomes operational, it will employ approximately 2,000 people and bring HMSI’s total annual production capacity to 2.2m units per year.
India represents the world’s second-largest motorcycle market behind only China, and industry-wide motorcycle sales in India for 2009 reached 8.78m units (up 19 per cent compared to 2008).
HMSI was established as a wholly owned motorcycle production and sales subsidiary of Honda in 1999 and began production in 2001. HMSI’s sales have grown steadily with 2009 sales of approximately 1.09m units (up 11 per cent compared to 2008) achieving a record high for nine consecutive years.
To fulfil the needs of its Indian customers, HMSI enhanced its product line-up this February when it introduced its CB Twister 110cc motorcycle. Sales in the 100-110cc market segment account for approximately 50 per cent of the total Indian motorcycle market.
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