Honda Motors is expecting to roll out vehicles within the next 2-3 years from its second Indian facility at Tapukara, in Rajasthan. The assembly at this plant was put on hold indefinitely due to the global slowdown of 2008. The plant has been partially operational since then for producing components only.
“Our first aim is to fully utilise the capacity of the Greater Noida facility and only after that we will consider starting assembly at Tapukara. I think we will be able to do that in the next 2-3 years,” Honda Siel Cars India Director (Marketing), Mr Seki Inaba said.
Honda is currently not utilizing the full capacity of the Greater Noida unit and the decision to start assembly at the new plant will only be taken when the current plant capacity is reached. This according to Honda, might be necessary in the next 2-3 years time.
The company’s first facility at Greater Noida, set up for Rs 450 crore in 1997, has an installed production capacity of one lakh units per annum and can produce up to 1.2 lakh units by improving the efficiencies of different verticals, Mr Seki Inaba added. As we reported earlier, the company is targeting November 2011 to double its production.
HSCI had committed an investment of Rs 1,000 crore to set up the facility at Tapukara with an installed capacity of 60,000 units per annum. In September 2008, it had partially opened the plant to start stamping operations and produce few parts for domestic and export markets.
Last year, the company announced a further investment of Rs 250 crore on the Tapukara facility to expand the power train unit, primarily to cater to its upcoming small car ‘Brio’. It currently rolls out engine and transmission components such as cylinder heads and cylinder blocks.
