Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is planning to hit 5.43 million units of two-wheeler sales this financial year. The figure will not only mark a huge accomplishment for Honda, it will also be the first time the Japanese manufacturer will cross the five million unit mark.
A top HMSI official said that the company will be banking on scooter production at its Gujarat plant and ramping up capacity at its other three motorcycle factories to reach this target.
Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India said, "For the first time we will be crossing five million units in a year in India. This will include growing contribution from our new scooter plant in Gujarat. Our line one in Gujarat went on stream three months ago and we have already reached full capacity of 50,000 units per month. The second line will be operational in July adding another 50,000 units per month which will help clear our delivery backlog in scooters."
The increase in scooters, he said, will also open up capacity for motorcycle production in HMSI's other three factories from July-August onwards. The two-wheeler market, which has been powered largely by growth in the automatic scooter segment, will see this product corner just short of half the total volumes in the industry.
"In 2016, this segment grew to become 31 per cent of the total two-wheeler business and in the next five years, it should be 40 per cent of the two-wheeler industry, the trend of growth in automatic scooters will continue,” Guleria added.
HMSI currently has a network of 4,600 outlets, plans to add another 800-850 to its distribution network this financial year.
Source - ETAuto
