Honda Cars to begin production at Rajasthan plant

Japanese carmaker Honda which recently inaugurated its second production unit in Rajasthan earlier this month is soon going to start manufacturing at this center. Honda stated that the first car to roll out of this manufacturing center is Honda Amaze. The carmaker had set up this production unit in Rajasthan since the state did not have any car manufacturing plant and it received government assistance at every step. The manufacturing facility of Honda in Rajasthan is spread over a sprawling area of 450 acres and has been set up with an investment outlay of Rs. 3526 crores. In the initial years capacity of this production unit will be 1.2 lakh cars per annum. This production is self sufficient and most of its functions are automated as it reduces cost of maintain quality in final product.

Honda Motors India which has a sizeable presence in India manufactures both two wheelers and four wheelers for local makers and also for exports. Its commitment and faith in local markets is visible in its steady growth from seventh largest carmaker to fourth largest beating local bigwig Tata Motors and also Toyota and Ford which have been in India for a longer duration. The firm is making a concentrated effort to grow its clientele by structured step by step process by first developing a formidable portfolio of products and then expanding into urban and rural areas with equal gusto. Honda is treading a middle path in Indian passenger car market by maintaining a diverse range of products which comprise of both mass market cars and also expensive range.

Tapurkara plant of Honda Motors is an integrated manufacturing structure which performs varied functions related to car making at one place instead of having varied ancillary units which combine their products together. Therefore the plant contains units for forging, press shop, welding unit, plastic molding, engine assembling, paint shop, frame assembly unit and engine testing unit. During fiscal year of 2013 Honda cars was able to sell record number of vehicles with their new models and registered a growth rate of 78 percent by selling 101,370 units. Honda has received a great response for its Honda City and Amaze models both of which are available in petrol and diesel variants at a competitive price. The carmaker was able to identify demand for diesel cars in time and took advantage of the dip in diesel prices to meet this demand.

Once the Tapukara plant begins production utilizing full capacity Honda will be able to produce 2.4 lakh units per annum.  The production unit was welcomed by Rajasthan’s government as it would provide employment to more than 3200 skilled and unskilled people. In initial months the production unit will help Honda manage the overwhelming demand for its Honda Amaze car and later soon to launched Jazz and Mobilio MPV. Though these two cars were showcased at Auto Expo 2014 their bookings have not started as Honda is yet to complete deliveries of Amaze and Honda City. Once all bookings have been converted into deliveries the production of new models will begin in earnest and will help Honda to achieve its target of selling 300,000 units by 2016.