Tuesday March 20, 02:12 AM
Honda in sight of 1 m bike sales |
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Motorcycle and Scooters India today unveiled a variant of its 150 cc motorcycle Unicorn and exuded confidence that its two-wheeler sales would touch 1 million in next three years. The company has also initiated a feasibility study for setting up its second plant. The current manufacturing facility in Manesar has a capacity to make 1.2 million bikes a year. Honda Motorcycle hopes to produce 900,000 motorcycles and scooters in 2007-08, up from 720,000 it hopes to sell in the current financial year.
The company will soon introduce a new fuel injection technology in its premium brands and is also planning to launch a 100 cc bike and a gearless scooter in the coming months. "We are conducting a feasibility study for our second plant. Our current models will be manufactured at our existing facility in Manesar. The second plant will be utilised for 100 cc motorcycles," Honda Motorcycle president and chief executive officer Y. Aoshima told newsmen here after launching a variant of Unicorn.
He said details about the location and investments in the project had not been finalised. "The investment will depend on the location of the second plant We are still assessing the project site. I cannot speak about the investment," Aoshima added. He said the company was considering imports of 500 cc-plus motorcycles as completely built units. "The high-capacity motorcycles will be expensive as tariff is high. Though the volumes will be low, we will have to address a number of infrastructure issues before importing the motorcycles," he added. However, motorcycles with an engine capacity of less than 500 cc could be assembled here, he stated.
Aoshima ruled out any conflict of interest with its joint venture partner, Hero Honda, over the planned launch of 100 cc motorcycles. "There is room for both companies to co-exist. The 100 cc market is key to attaining volumes," he observed, but declined to give details about the models the company plans to launch.
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