HMSI opens second line in Gujarat plant
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has inaugurated the 2nd assembly line of its 4th manufacturing plant at Vithalapur (Mandal taluk, Ahmedabad district) in Gujarat. Adding an additional 6 lakh units to the annual production capacity, the 4th plant’s total capacity has now reached 1.2 million units annually. The second assembly line inaugurated is an exclusive scooter assembly line and will produce India’s largest selling two-wheeler, Activa. This expansion increases HMSI’s total annual production capacity to 5.8 million units, including 1.6 million units at the first plant (Haryana), 1.2 million units at the second plant (Rajasthan), 1.8 million units at third plant (Karnataka) and another 1.2 million
Commenting on this milestone, Keita Muramatsu, President & CEO, HMSI said, “India is not only the World’s No. 1 twowheeler market but is also going to be the No 1 contributor to Honda global 2-wheeler sales for the first time in this fiscal year 2016-17. Scooterisation, a trend seen earlier in developed markets of the world, is firmly driving the Indian 2-wheeler momentum today. The scooter segment is growing at 30% compared to 15% growth of the two-wheeler industry.
Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Sr. VP, Sales & Marketing, HMSI, said, “Today, Honda is leading the Scooterization of India with a 58% market share. The new 2nd assembly line further supports Honda in cementing its undisputed leadership in scooter segment. Ending the 17 year old monopoly of motorcycle, Honda’s iconic automatic scooter Activa is India’s the largest selling 2-wheeler in 2016.”