The Hindu : National : Honda Cars breaks ground for second plant in India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 02, 2007
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Honda Cars breaks ground for second plant in India

K.T. Jagannathan

To come up on 600 acres in the Tapukara industrial area

Honda to launch a 1.2 litre petrol car from the second plant
The car will be less than four metre-long

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

shifting gears: (From right to left) Satoshi Aoki, Chairman Honda Motor Co Ltd, Japan along with Rajasthan Chief Secretary D.C. Sawant, M. Takedagawa, CEO of Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, Rajasthan Industries Minister Narpat Singh Rajvi and Siddharth Sriram, Chairman, HSCI at the ground-breaking ceremony for Honda Manufacturing Plant-2 in Rajashthan on Sunday.

Tapukara (Alwar): Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. (HSCI), on Sunday, broke ground for its second plant in the Tapukara industrial area, some 120 km from its existing plant at Greater Noida.

The new plant will come up on a 600-acre site and the initial phase will see an investment of Rs. 1,000 crore to churn out 60,000 cars annually.

Different models

It will have the flexibility to make different models quickly and efficiently.

The plant will comprise, a press shop, a weld shop, die-casting shop, machine shop, paint shop and assembly operations.

The Government of Rajasthan has also earmarked around 150 acres around the plant to house eight component suppliers of Honda.

R&D facility to be set up

Official sources said the Government had also earmarked another 100 acres for Honda to set up a research and development facility.

Addressing a press conference here, Satoshi Aoki, Chairman of Honda Motor Company of Japan, said with the ground-breaking ceremony the process had started for Honda to go into small car production.

Company officials told The Hindu that Honda would launch a 1.2 litre less than four metre-long petrol car from the second plant. “It will be a compact car and provide customers experience of a mid-sized vehicle,” they a dded.

Prototype ready

An official said the prototype for the new car was ready.

Honda was also planning to use the panels made in this facility for other models produced at Greater Noida factory.

Asked to define the small car that Honda was planning for India, Masahiro Takedagawa, president and chief executive officer of HSCI, said it would be a 1200 cc petrol or a 1500 cc diesel vehicle.

“It will be a car that achieves balance in terms of models and cost. And, it should also make business sense,” he said.

Diesel version in U.S.

Mr. Akoi said Honda had a diesel car only in Europe where 50 per cent of the market was dominated by diesel cars.

He hinted that Honda would introduce a diesel version in the U.S. in three years.

Asked about the possibility of a diesel car in India, Mr. Takedagawa said, “It is still under study.”

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