Honda plans to market a new small car model in India by 2010 in an effort to tap into the growing market, visiting Honda president Takeo Fukui said on Monday.
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During the period to 2010, Honda aims to raise Indian output from 5,000 units to over 15,000 units annually, Fukui told Kyodo News.
”The scale of the four-wheel vehicle business in India follows those of China and Thailand and India as one of the most strategically important bases for us with high potential for growth,” he said.
Honda’s mainstay product in India is the City sedan with 1.5-litre engine and price tag of 1.5 million yen ($US13,000).
It plans for the new model to be smaller and cheaper to compete against its rival Suzuki which sells small cars priced at around 500,000 to 1 million yen through Maruti Udyog in India. Suzuki has nearly half of the Indian market.
Honda also said it will add the larger Civic sedan to its Indian range.
Honda projects the market will expand to some 2.5m units by 2010 against 1.46m units last year, and that the company’s market share will increase to 6% from 3%.
