Honda Lays Foundation For World’s Largest Only Scooter Plant In India

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) today held the foundation stone laying ceremony for its fourth manufacturing plant at Vithalapur, in India.

Spread across 250 acres, Honda's fourth two-wheeler plant at Vithalapur is approximately 80 km from Ahmedabad city. When operational by end of 2015, it will have an annual production capacity of 1.2 million units, making it the world's largest sole scooter manufacturing facility.

The foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, the Finance Minister of Gujarat, Saurabh Patel and other senior dignitaries from the Gujarat government.

Officials from Honda included Noriaki Abe Coo Honda Motor Company Ltd.-Asia & Oceania Region, Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, Managing Officer - Honda Motor Co. Ltd., President & CEO, Honda Motor India Pvt. Ltd. Keita Muramatsu, the President & CEO of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd., Harbhajan Singh, the Vice President of General & Corporate Affairs, Yadvinder S. Guleria the Vice President of Sales & Marketing.

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 , 1.2 million units at second plant and 1.8 million units at third plant.

Noriaki Abe, Chief Operating Officer, Honda Motor Company 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 percent to global Honda sales."

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Keita Muramatsu-President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said, "Indian automatic scooter market is growing at 2.5 times the speed of overall 2wheeler industry growth. The Honda automatic scooter you ride will not only be "Made in India" but also "Made in Gujarat."

With a global presence in more than 40 countries, Honda's worldwide two-wheeler sales volume was 17 million units during 2013-14. For the first time, India's contribution crossed the 20 percent mark globally, making India the second largest contributor globally during 2013-14.