Honda Cars India (HCIL) has announced that the automaker has decided to shift production of the all new fourth generation City sedan to its new Tapukara facility in Rajasthan from the existing Greater Noida plant, Uttar Pradesh. As a result, Honda has stopped production of the City for the entire month of August and production will start in the first week of September 2014 instead. The strategic move has been made owing the overwhelming response that the market has given to the all new City, while the Mobilio is also clocking good numbers post launch.
Honda states that the Japanese automaker has sold over 53,605 units of the fourth generation City in the country in the January-July period, averaging over 7000 units per month. It has also turned out to be the fastest sedan in the segment to achieve that number and has already captured 50 percent of marketshare in the C-segment sedan space. The City is being moved out of the Greater Noida facility to make space for the new Mobilio MPV that was launched in the country last month and has clocked 10,000 bookings since. City buyers will wait for their car but Mobilio buyers might cancel bookings, hence this move to prioritise Mobilio production over the City’s.
The Tapukara plant on the other hand commenced operations in February this year and only produces the Amaze compact sedan as of now. The plant has a total installed capacity of 1.20 lakh units per annum, but is currently running on a single shift. With the City shifted to Tapukara, Honda would have ensured maximum production facility and fast delivery of vehicles in the market. The Tapukara plant is spread over 450 acres and comes with integrated manufacturing units for forging, press shop, plastic moulding, powertrain shop, weld shop, paint shop, frame assembly, engine assembly and engine testing facility.
Prospective Honda City owners who were promised delivery of vehicles in the month of August should confirm with their respective dealerships over the delivery period. The delivery period could most likely be delayed by a few weeks, but is expected to be on track and faster than before from mid-September onwards. Honda will also launch the next generation Jazz in the country by March 2015 with petrol and diesel engine options.
