Honda now looks to drive two-wheeler exports from India

Honda's new scooter facility came up in Gujarat last year, which makes exports competitive

Japanese automobile major Honda wants to turn India, the world’s biggest two-wheeler market, into an export hub.
 
Exports from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) are limited because it does not manufacture two-wheelers that comply with advanced emission norms Euro-VI, BS-VI in the Indian context.
 
India was originally scheduled to move to BS-V from 2019 and BS-VI from 2023. But the government a year ago decided to skip BS-V and advance the timeframe for BS-VI to 2020. The shift will bring India on a par with the highest emission norms globally. “There is a big opportunity for us to make India a global export hub for Honda two-wheelers,” said Keita Muramatsu, president and chief executive officer of HMSI. “Low cost, high quality and standard regulation will give us an edge over Honda two-wheelers made in any other country,” he added.
 

HMSI sold almost 5 million two-wheelers in 2016 and is the second largest player in India after Hero MotoCorp. India accounts for 30 per cent of all two-wheelers sold by Honda globally. It overtook Honda’s Indonesian operations in sales in 2016.
 
HMSI’s exports are tiny compared to its sales in India. In April-December 2016, the Gurgaon-headquartered company shipped 211,000 two-wheelers abroad, 41 per cent more than the corresponding period of the previous year. The  company’s sales in India stood at a record 3.64 million two-wheelers during the same period, clocking growth of almost 14 per cent, year on year.
 
India’s biggest two-wheeler exporter Bajaj Auto, in comparison, ships 100,000 of them a month.
 
HMSI’s new scooter plant came up in Gujarat last year, making exports competitive due to its proximity to ports. The company has a capacity of make 5.8 million two-wheelers and will expand that to 6.4 million during 2017-18.
 
Y S Guleria, senior vice-president (sales and marketing) at HMSI, said there was going to be a “window of opportunity” to export products meeting international specifications. “There is a big focus from Honda Japan and a task force has been set up so that we are in a position to enhance quality in the next three years. These three years will be crucial to acquire new technology  and skill our manpower so that the products are capable of going anywhere in world,” he added.