Honda Motor talks Chindia story in strategy shift

New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- Japanese car major Honda Motor Corporation on Wednesday said China and India were the company's top two priorities signalling a shift in the carmaker's strategy from developed and traditional markets to emerging markets.

Honda also said it does not expect traditional markets like US and Europe to go back to the original levels in the near future.

Honda's newly appointed global chief Takanobu Ito who is in India on a two-day visit as his first overseas visit since taking over the reins of the company, said India was one of the few markets to show healthy growth even as all other markets crashed in the aftermath of global meltdown last year. Honda is developing a small car with India as the lead country at its R&D centre in Tochigi, Japan and the company said it is trying to make this car as affordable to the consumers as possible but it will not enter in the race to make the heapest car.