Vithalapur, Gujarat: Automobile major Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday inaugurated a second assembly line at its scooter-only manufacturing plant here, expecting to meet the rush during the festive season.
The plant, located in Ahmedabad district's Mandal taluk, has seen investments of Rs 1,100 crore from the Japanese company and a similar amount from 22 vendors.
The plant will be producing three variants of the company's best-selling Activa models and Dio scooters only, as it hopes to reach maximum output by September.
With additional capacity, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India is likely to cut the nearly three-week waiting period for these models by the peak Diwali season, its senior vice president for sales and marketing Y S Guleria said.
The company's total production capacity will go up to 5.8 million units a year, making India the largest unit among Honda group.
Its first plant at Manesar has a capacity of 1.6 million units, Tapukara in Rajasthan can roll out 1.2 million units, while the third facility at Karnataka's Narsapura has an installed capacity of 1.8 million units
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India president and chief executive Keita Muranatsu said there is "scooterization" happening in the market today, which has witnessed sales of the scooters growing at double the pace of the overall two-wheeler segment.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India enjoys a 58 per cent market share in scooters.
The second line will add 1,100 units a day or one scooter every 22 seconds, to take the total production at the plant to 4,400 units day, Mr Guleria said, adding that the plant employs over 4,050 people, who work in two shifts.
Out of the 4,400 units a day, 3,200 will be Activas and the rest will be Dios, he said. This is the fourth plant by HMSI since it began operations in India in 2001 and its total investments in the country have crossed Rs 8,000 crore.
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