Honda’s 4-wheeler arm entered the Indian market way back in 1998 with their first production facility at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The existing plant was now feeling inadequate to cater to the company’s production demands and hence Honda started developing a new plant in Rajasthan. The new Honda facility is located at Tapukara Industrial Area, District Alwar, Rajasthan. This new plant has a total annual production capacity of 1.2 lakh units while the total production capacity of both plants combined is more than 2.4 lakh units per annum.
This is the first automotive manufacturing plant in Rajasthan and the launch event was attended by Ms. Vasundhara Raje, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Rajasthan and Mr. Yasuhisa Kawamura, Minister & Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan in India along with other top Government officials and Honda senior management.
This new plant is spread over a total area of 450 acres. It consists of the following facilities – Forging, Weld Shop, Paint Shop, Press Shop, Plastic Moulding, Engine Assembly, Frame Assembly, Powertrain Shop and Engine Testing. Honda has built it to world-class standards and all the latest technology is being used here. The company is making use of the latest manufacturing equipment and the main focus is on safety and environmental conservation.
Honda Cars India has made an investment of Rs. 3526 crores and the company employs around 3200 people to work in the plant. Honda currently sells the Brio, Amaze, City and CR-V in the Indian market and the first car to roll out of the new plant was an Amaze. Honda Cars India’s first plant is located at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. This second plant which has come up at Tapukara began its first phase of operations in 2008 with only two facilities – Press Shop and Powertrain Shop. The second phase was undergoing development and finally Honda has fully started utilising their second plant.
In the current fiscal year 2013-14, Honda sold more than 1 lakh cars for the first time in a financial year registering a growth of 78% over last fiscal year. Most of the success can be attributed to the popular Amaze and the new City. Top officials from Honda stated that they consider India as a very important market and they are committed to expanding their network in the country.
