HMSI to invest Rs 1,600 cr this year; plans to expand in Karnataka

'Mission 2020' was to make the Indian operations one of their hubs for export, said Minoru Kato

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India plans to invest around Rs 1,600 crore in 2017-18, the bulk for capacity expansion in Karnataka, and for launch of new products.

After inaugurating a zonal office in Coimbatore, Minoru Kato, president and chief executive officer, said this would be a challenging year.
 

He said 'Mission 2020' was to make the Indian operations one of their hubs for export. China, Thailand and Vietnam are such hubs at present.

The India operation is already a big contributor to Honda's global two-wheeler business. This year, the aim is output of six million units, a 20 per cent growth. Last year's export was 300,000 units to neighbouring countries and to Latin America and Central America.

"Once the BS-VI emisison norms (due from April 2020), which is equivalent to global standards, comes into place, we will also start exporting to developed markets," said Kato.

Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president for sales and marketing, said the proposed investments include an additional capacity for 600,000 units a year at their facility in Bengaluru, expected to be ready by July. That would raise the total to 6.4 million units.

"We are internally discussing how to take the next stage of expansion," said Guleria.

He said the south and west regions were leading in scooter sales, with Tamil Nadu also the country's second biggest market in this segment. With the expansion of these sales, Honda's market share has grown to 35 per cent here, from only five per cent a decade ago.