India becomes largest two-wheeler market for Honda

India has emerged to become the largest market for Japanese two-wheeler giant, Honda. For the last couple of months, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) managed to sell more units than the company's subsidiaries in other large markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Indonesia was Honda's largest market till India took away the top spot in July. While most of Honda's motorcycles, have not managed to make a very big impact, its Activa scooter has played a big part in the company's success in India. It has been swapping places for the best-selling two-wheeler in the country with the Hero Splendor motorcycle, which is built by Honda's former collaborator, Hero MotoCorp.

Honda ended its collaboration with Hero in 2011. The company has surpassed manufacturers like Bajaj Auto to make reach the number two spot behind Hero. It does not have any plans to slow down and intends to challenge Hero for the top spot. Honda has a launch planned for every quarter and has increased its range in the mass 100-110 cc bike segment with the Dream range. While the segment's share in total two-wheeler sales has fallen from 49% in 2012 to 47%, Honda's sales have grown.

At present HMSI has an approximate annual production capacity of 4.5 million units. It has three plants in the country located in Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka. Another plant is building constructed in the state of Gujarat. This plant is expected to be inaugurated in 2016 and will roll out 1.2 million units annually.

Source: Times of India