Honda eyes 10-fold jump in exports from India

The country's 'low-cost, high-quality manufacturing hub' tag got a boost today with the Japanese car major Honda announcing a plan to increase its exports of automobile components and kits by ten-fold this fiscal.

"Honda Siel Cars India [HSCI] has already started exporting components and kits to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, and is targeting Rs 112 crore revenue from exports this fiscal," its President and Chief Executive Takashi Nagai told reporters here after launching its smallest and cheapest compact car, Brio, in Mumbai.

Last year, the company exported car-components worth Rs 11.30 crore from the country, a senior company official said.

Senior Vice-president for Sales & Marketing, Jnaneswar Sen said that as India delivers quality products at low prices, the company was looking at it as a components-sourcing hub.

Sourcing from India offers additional advantages such as de-risking from Japan, which was hit by a devastating earthquakes and tsunami early March, and a hedge against adverse currency movements, he said.

A senior company official said last fiscal the company's total export turnover was Rs 11.30 crore. The official further said in the current fiscal, the company has started exporting engine parts for its sedan City and the hatchback Jazz to Indonesia and Malaysia.

Besides, it is also exporting the kit and certain transmission equipment for the just-launched Brio to Thailand, the official said.

All the exports are being sourced from Honda's plant in Rajasthan's Tapukara.

When asked about the piling up of waiting period for its hatchback Jazz, Sen said the company was yet to come out of the Japanese shock and will be ramping up production from November.