The Indian arm of global automobile major Honda is planning to set up a new manufacturing facility next to its existing unit at Greater Noida, near Delhi in the next four to five years.
H Yamada, president and CEO of Honda Siel Cars India told Business Standard, "We would have invested an additional Rs 200 crore (Rs 2,000 million) in the three year time span ending 2005 towards model upgradation and capacity expansion. We plan to set up a new plant by the end of 2007-08. We expect that our capacity by then would stand enhanced to 50,000 cars per annum."
"We see great potential in the Indian market for C and D segment cars. The purchasing power of the people has increased considerably in the last few years and they are now looking at premium cars. We are very encouraged by this trend," he added.
He, however, refused to divulge details on the proposed investment on the new facility. The carmaker has invested around Rs 450 crore (Rs 4,500 million) since inception.
The company, which started its Indian operations in 1998, currently has a 150-acre plant in Noida with a capacity of 30,000 units per annum.
For now the company will concentrate all its energies on being the top seller in both the C and D segments, but it does not rule out plans to venture into the volume driven A and B segment. According to Yamada, the Indian car market is currently at 600,000 cars and is expected to reach the one million mark by 2010.
Premium cars will constitute 25-30 per cent of this market but the volumes are still in the A and B segments.
© 2026