2 Facts – a) Even after 13 years of it’s launch, Honda Activa is still in ‘waiting list’ for delivery and b) Even as Honda has more than doubled it’s production during last three years, 60,000 Honda scooters in India are in backlog (consumers have placed the orders but there are no units to be delivered)
This proves that Honda scooter sales are booming in India, and anticipating such positive growth in sales for years to come, Honda has just announced their big Indian plan: World’s largest scooter plant in Ahmedabad, Gujarat which will roll out 12 lakh units a year.
Announcing this news, YS Guleria, Honda VP for marketing and sales in India said, “Even as we have more than doubled our scooter capacity in India, we have not been able to match up with the demand.”
As per reports, Honda will spend around Rs 1100 crore to build this plant, as they upbeat about scooter sales in India and neighboring countries.
In the Indian market for scooters, Honda has comfortably captured 53% share. Their best selling product is still Activa, which will witness even more demand as the festival season approaches. We had reported earlier that Activa has beaten Hero Splendor to become best selling two-wheeler in India.
Plans for the new Honda factory
The factory which will be situated in Ahmedabad, Gujarat will have 2 assembly lines for scooters, which is expected to create 3000 direct and indirect jobs in the state. As of now, manufacturing capacity of Honda is as follows:
- 16 lakh units/ year from their first plant in Haryana
- 12 lakh units/year from their plant in Rajasthan
- 18 lakh units/year from their plant in Karnataka
The new plant is expected to deliver 12 lakh units/ year, which will enable Honda to manufacture 58 lakh units overall in India.
Not only Honda, but other scooter manufacturers: Hero MotoCorp, Suzuki, Yamaha, TVS Motors and M&M are also ramping up their manufacturing capacity in India as unprecedented demand for unisex two wheelers are increasing every quarter.
Overall, scooters sales grew 23% for the period 2013-14 in India as more than 3.5 lakh units were sold till March, 2014.
