Honda ramps ups City production to take on Maruti Ciaz

The Honda City has had a tremendous run in the C2 segment since its launch in January this year. However, to accomodate the Mobilio MPV, which joined the Honda line-up in July, the company decided to move the production of the car from its Greater Noida facility to its new plant at Tapukara in the state of Rajasthan. This resulted in City deliveries being halted for a while and long waiting periods for the car. The City went on to lose its position as segment leader to the recently launched Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. In October Honda sold 5,120 units of the City compared to 6,345 units of the Ciaz.

Honda has responded by adding a second shift at the Tapukara plant. With this step, the company intends to reduce the waiting period for the City. Honda claims that it will also see full capacity utilization of Tapukara plant.

Honda registered monthly domestic sales of 13,242 units in October 2014 against 11,214 units in the corresponding month last year. The company also achieved the milestone of crossing 1 lac units in the current financial year where it registered an overall growth of 43% during the period April - October 2014 with 1,01,442 units as against 70,831 units during the corresponding period last year.