Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) held the foundation stone laying ceremony and ‘Bhoomi-poojan' for its landmark fourth manufacturing plant at Vithalapur (Mandal taluk, Ahmedabad district, Gujarat) in India.
Spread across 250 acres, Honda's 2Wheeler plant at Vithalapur is approximately 80 km from Ahmedabad city. Once operational by end of 2015, it will have an annual production capacity of 1.2 million units, making it the world's largest only scooter manufacturing facility.
Undertaking this capacity expansion plan will increase HMSI's total annual production capacity to 5.8 million units, including 1.6 million units at first plant (Haryana), 1.2 million units at second plant (Rajasthan) and 1.8 million units at third plant (Karnataka).
Elaborating how the upcoming 4th plant is a significant milestone in Honda's global business, Noriaki Abe, Chief Operating Officer, Honda Motor Company Ltd- Asia & Oceania Region, said, "As the World's biggest two-wheeler market, India is already a priority market for Honda. In the current fiscal 2014-15, Honda aims to sell 18.2 million two-wheelers worldwide and for the first time, India will contribute almost 25% to global Honda sales. We have huge expectations from this project as this will be our flagship and benchmark plant in India in terms of volume, safety, quality, cost, associate skill and moral. "
Sharing details of Honda's fourth plant, Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, Managing Officer - Honda Motor Co. Ltd., said, "I would like to thank the Gujarat Government for their support in setting up the plant. With the fourth plant, we aim to reach closer to the vast market in West which contributes over 25% to Honda business.
The new plant will employ approximately 3000 people within first 2 years of commercial production and will entail INR 1,100 crores investment. Honda's fourth plant 1.2 million units annual production capacity and increase our overall production capacity to 5.8 million units."
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