Honda Siel mulls powertrain facility

27 September, 2007

Car major Honda Siel Cars India is mulling over bringing in a powertrain facility to India, according to an auto industry report. The company’s new facility might be built in its manufacturing plant in Rajasthan.

The powertrain facility, expected to get operational by the first quarter of 2009, will produce 200,000 units annually. Parent Honda has allotted 600 acres for this unit. Though the exact financials have not been revealed, it has been pointed out by the report that the cost for building a powertrain facility might cross the Rs 600-crore mark.

Meanwhile, Honda Siel Cars India is also working on increasing output at its Greater Noida plant. The company plans to push up production to 100,000 units from 50,000 units per annum. It aims to produce 150,000 units annually by 2010 from both the plants, the report said. As the actual capacity of both the plants combined would come to 300,000 units, the need for a powertrain facility was recommended.

For a powertrain facility to be commercially viable a company should have a minimum capacity of 300,000 units per year. It added that the powertrain facility will help the company establish a full-fledged engine and gearbox manufacturing centre in the country and reduce dependency on imports.

Meanwhile, in a related development Ford Motor Company is also rumored to be considering a diesel powertrain facility at its Chennai complex. The move comes following studies which revealed that the diesel segment in the country will see sales rising in a few years compared with the total size of the automobile industry.