Honda plans R&D unit at initial cost of Rs. 500 crores

With international firms keen on developing India as a hub for manufacturing small cars, Honda Motors is keen on starting early in this endeavour and has announced plans of setting up a research and development unit at Greater Noida with an invesmtnet outlay of Rs. 500 crores. Besides manufacturing cars at its production facilties, Honda Motors will set up a subsididary unit in India to develop products for local markets using locally available components thus making them affordable for local public. This move will help boost local economy and make Honda a likeable brand government bodies and local citizens. The research facility will be christened Honda Genbetsu India and will be established within the firm’s production facility in Greater Noida.

Honda already has a small research and development facility at Noida which will be expanded to set up a full fledged unit with testing center and other necessary facilities. This research unit will help Honda become a more localized carmaker catering to Indian tastes and will also enable quick changes in design and engineering front to make products more suited to local driving conditions. The bygone year of 2013 which was extremely gruelling for automotive industry in India was not very stressful for Honda since it managed to bring out multiple models to match demand of suitably priced products at the right time and was able to close sales on a profitable note.

Honda’s success lies in the recently developed fuel efficient diesel engine which was fitted onto its latest cars Honda Amaze hatchback and recently introduced Honda City sedan both  of which have helped the firm sell more than 15000 units within January 2014 which itself was a record. The next step for Honda is make necessary changes in its soon to be launched products Mobilio and Jazz so theyy will be as popular as their predecessors Amaze and City.   Honda like Ford is planning to make India a hub for manufacturing small cars therefore is setting up this research center to make suitable petrol and diesel cars.  The car maker has achieived ranking as India’s third largest manufacturer within a short period of time that speaks volumes about its product range.

Honda’s research unit will be developed stage by stage to design and develop prototypes of small cars specially suited to Indian tastes and road conditions as local markets are expected to grow at a rapid pace by 2020. The firm owns another subsidiary Honda Motor India which develops components and motor parts for Honda’s cars. The new research unit will make better components also focused on providing excellent products to its customers. During annoucement of this project Honda stated that it will remain committed to Indian  market and will aspire to improve lives by developing customised products for every market segment. The firm’s small cars will cater to middle and lower middle income group while mid range sedans will cater to other segments. Honda knows that there is a sizeable segment of buyers which likes expensive high quality cars and is willing to pay an extra buck for a preimum product therefore is keen  to develop products for this segment too.