Honda Cars India is all set to increase the production capacity at its new Tapukara plant located in Rajasthan. The Japanese car maker is planning to nearly double the production capacity of auto components that will be exported from India to over Rs. 800 crores in 2014-15. Apart from components, Honda also plans to increase the installed capacity for producing cars to meet the domestic and export market demands.
Honda Cars produces different auto components inclusive of crank shafts, cylinder heads and transmissions from the Tapukar plant, that are exported to markets like South East Asia, Latin America and the UK. The company clocked in a revenue of Rs. 420 crores from component exports in the financial year 2013-14; which has encouraged Honda to export more components this year as well. The plant allows for capacity expansion, which will be extended to increase the production of cars as well.
The Tapukara plant currently produces 60,000 vehicles per year in one shift, which can be expanded to 1.20 lakh units in two shifts. By increasing the installed capacity at the plant, the automaker intends to sell around 3 lakh vehicles in the country by 2016-17, significantly contributing to the Japanese automaker’s global target of selling 60 lakh vehicles in the same time frame.
Honda exported 5500 units of the Brio and Amaze models in the last fiscal mainly to South Africa, followed by Nepal and Bhutan from India. The company only recently started exporting the fourth generation City from India to South Africa. With the demand increasing, the automaker is looking forward to export over 10,000 units in this financial year. Honda also stated that the upcoming Mobilio could also be exported depending on the demand, but the company’s priority will be domestic sales first.
