Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India will
unveil its new scooter at Asia’s
biggest auto expo in January 2008.
According to reports, Honda Motor Co,
the world's biggest manufacturer of
motorcycles and scooters, also plans
to start selling a new motorcycle and
a new scooter in India by 2009 as
demand grows in the world's
second-largest two-wheeler market.
Honda plans to spend Rs 3 billion in
the next three years on around five
new models. The company also plans to
increase its annual manufacturing
capacity from 1 million vehicles to
1.2 million by year 2010. The
company’s plans to sell new models in
India increases competition for
India’s biggest motorcycle
manufacturer and affiliate Hero Honda
Motors Ltd.
Honda’s Gurgaon unit will put its new
scooter for display at the 2008 Auto
Expo in Delhi. Meanwhile, the new
motorcycle is expected go on sale in
the first half of 2009. The company
has not been forthcoming about
additional details.
Honda believes that the expansion of
demand for automatic scooters in
metropolitan cities is rising because
of traffic jams and these provide a
hassle-free commute. In smaller
cities, people may have found
motorcycles not so versatile and have
found scooters more convenient, it
felt.
Honda, which owns 26 percent stake in
Hero Honda Motors, started selling
scooters on its own and in 2005
started selling motorcycles through
its fully owned unit. It has been
revealed that as many as 7.06 million
motorcycles and scooters were sold in
India during the year ended March 31,
2007 with Honda and its affiliate Hero
Honda controlling a combined 49
percent of the market. The company’s
plant at Manesar expects to sell 1
million vehicles in the year ending
March 31, 2009, a report added.
