Honda to launch 'Civic' next year

Japanese auto major Honda Motor Co on Wednesday said it would locally produce and sell the popular 'Civic' model in India next year and would ramp up overall production capacity to 1,00,000 units by 2010 from the current level of 30,000 units.

Bullish on its prospects in India, Honda Motor's Global president and CEO Takeo Fukui said the company plans to hike capacity to 50,000 units in the country by the end of this year.

In addition to meeting the growing demand for models like 'City' and 'Accord', which it currently sells in the country through its subsidiary Honda Siel Car India, the company said the increased capacity would accommodate the start-up of local production of the new 'Civic'.

"The all-new 'Civic', developed under our approach of creating products to meet the demands of local customers, is a true global car with sales of more than 6,00,000 units annually in 160 countries in the world and with production in six regions," Fukui said announcing the company's three-year mid-term plan for worldwide operations.

He said while introducing advanced powertrain production technologies in Asia, Honda will pursue high-quality worldwide and utilise its flexible, complementary global supply network.

HSCI, in which Honda holds as much as 99 per cent stake, currently sells the 'City' model in the mid-size segment and 'Accord' in the premium sedan category. The company also sells the 'CR-V' model in the SUV segment.