India becomes No 1 contributor to Honda's two-wheeler business

Recently, Honda commissioned a 4th line at Narsapura plant, which single biggest manufacturing plant

Japanese auto major Honda on Wednesday said India has become its biggest global production hub for two-wheelers with the commissioning of a fourth assembly line at the Narsapura plant of Indian arm with an overall annual production capacity of 64 lakh units.

With the commissioning of the fourth line that has an additional 6 lakh units annually, the Narsapura plant near here of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has also become Honda's single biggest manufacturing plant with an overall capacity of 24 lakh units annually.

HMSI has invested Rs 606.5 crore on the fourth line and the company has invested Rs 2,600 crore till date, employing 7,000 people at the plant. The company commissioned the first line of the manufacturing unit in 2013.

Honda Motor Company Chief Officer Regional Operations (Asia & Oceania) Shinji Aoyama said India is leading the demand in company's two-wheeler business which is spread over 120 countries.

In 2016-17, India alone contributed 28 per cent to Honda's global two-wheeler sales and became the number one contributor to Honda's two-wheeler business, he added.

"The Narsapura plant will now produce 24 lakh two- wheelers annually. This makes the plant the world's largest two-wheeler plant for Honda and also India the number one production base for Honda globally," Aoyama told reporters here.

With the latest expansion, India will overtake Indonesia which has a production capacity of 58 lakh units per annum.

The Narsapura plant also surpasses Honda's Bekasi plant near Jakarta in Indonesia, which has an annual production capacity of 22 lakh units, as the single largest two-wheeler manufacturing unit of the company.

"The latest expansion further fortifies Honda's ability to serve the market faster," HMSI President and CEO Minoru Kato said.

In the long term, HMSI's steady and strategic investments would help India become the export hub, he added.

Besides Bengaluru, HMSI also has manufacturing plants at Manesar in Haryana, Tapukara in Rajasthan and Vithalpur in Gujarat.