Honda Motorcycles commissions new assembly line in Karnataka
India is now the biggest production base of Honda two-Wheelers worldwide post commissioning of the latest production capacity in Narsapura, reports Team B&C
Recently Honda Motorcycles India inaugurated a new assembly line at its Narsapura plant, near Bengaluru, Karnataka. With the latest expansion of 0.6 million units the combined annual production capacity from all four plants of Honda in India is 6.4 million units annually making India the number one production hub for the company’s two-wheeler operation globally.
Present at the inauguration were Shinji Aoyama, chief officer, Asia and Oceania regional operations, Honda Motor, Minoru Kato, president and CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and senior management team from Honda.
Elaborating how Asia Oceania region contributes 60 per cent to Honda’s global two-wheeler, sales and how India is driving the growth, Aoyama, said, “Honda’s two-wheeler business spans more than 120 countries worldwide and India is leading the demand. In 2016-17, India alone contributed 28 per cent to Honda’s two-wheeler sales. The growing Indian market is top priority for us. To meet the dynamic market demand and to prepare for the future opportunities, the fourth assembly line is inaugurated. With this the plant will now produce 24 lakh two-wheelers annually. This makes the Narsapura the world’s largest two-wheeler plant for Honda and also India the Number 1 production base for Honda globally.”
Detailing Honda’s growth trajectory in India, Kato, said, “In the first quarter of 2017-18, Honda’s aggressive growth led the industry momentum. Growing double the speed of industry at 19 per cent our company alone contributed 68 per cent to the industry’s new volumes resulting in market share gain to ever highest of 30 per cent. While expanding leadership in scooter segment (59 per cent market share), Honda is now also the new number two motorcycle brand of India. The latest expansion further fortifies the ability to serve the market faster with its increased annual production capacity to 6.4 million units from all plants. In the long term, Honda India’s steady and strategic investments will power our dreams to make India the export hub worldwide.”
According to company officials the Narsapura plant has many firsts in manufacturing technology worldwide. It is a green factory with 100 per cent rain-water harvesting and solar power system. Other firsts are state-of-the-art paint booth automatic air balancing system (world’s first in Honda’s two wheeler operations), cutting-edge manufacturing with advanced automated processes and 78 robots and increased automation in machine shop, paint shop, weld shop, aiming at higher efficiency and superior quality.
The plant provides direct employment to 7,000 people in Karnataka and indirect employment to 15,000 people via suppliers. Altogether Honda Motorcycles has four plants in India- Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Narsapura (Karnataka).
Source: navhindtimes.in
