Honda serious about its small car portfolio expansion plans in India

Indian auto market is ripe with demand of small car. Taking advantage of the situation Japanese auto major Honda is planning to expand the respective portfolio here, as it works simultaneously on enhancing vehicle development capability in its operations.

When asked about the company's plans for small cars in India, Honda President and Chief Executive Officer Takahiro Hachigo told PTI: "At Honda, we place priority on trying to listen to the needs, request from the customers from different regions. Therefore, if the region is showing strong demand for small cars we are always seriously considering possibilities."

Currently, Honda sells hatchback Brio in the compact cars segment and Jazz in premium hatchback category in India.

The company also sees prospects of growth for export of cars from the country.

Asked about the timeframe to achieve such target, he said: "We cannot say specifically which car by when because we have not yet fixed the details, but we think those cars that are competitive in India are also going to be competitive in other countries. So we want to try to export small sized cars from India first."

Honda's exports of auto components from India have been gradually increasing. In 2013-14, its component exports had a turnover of Rs 420 crore.

Honda globally wants to enhance its six regional operation systems and would like to see each region work on their own development, procurement, production and sales in their respective regions, he said.

To a question regarding vision for Indian market and volume expectation by 2020, he said instead of trying to estimate the volume, Honda would rather focus on products.

"India is a big country with a large population and I believe that motorisation will grow even more significantly. Heading towards 2020, as I said, I believe the key will be how many products we can come up with, that the Indian customers will like," he said.



(Image credits: Indiatimes)