8.18.2011

Honda aims to double monthly output by Nov

Honda Siel Cars India plans to double its monthly production to 10,000 unitsbyNovember this year. The move comes inthe wake of the expected restoration of components supply, following the Japan crisis as well as the launch of its new small car, Brio.

The company’s production at its Greater Noida factory stood at about 5,000 units per month before the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The upgradation will take the output to 120,000 units per annum. Presently, about 60,000 cars are being produced against an installed capacity of 100,000 units.

However, the company will continue to operate at a lower level of production of around 4,000 units till November 2011,Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), Honda Siel Cars India. This is likely to lead to an increase in the waiting period of its volume models, including Brio, Jazz and City. Brio is expected to be launched on September 27.The company, on Thursday, unveiled a revamped Jazz premium hatchback at a significantly low price to boost volumes of the car that has so far been languishing at bottom of sales charts.



The company, on Thursday, unveiled a revamped Jazz premium hatchback at a significantly low price to boost volumes of the car that has so far been languishing at bottom of sales charts.


The car has been launched between Rs 5.50 lakh and Rs 6.06 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi), about Rs 1.63 lakh cheaper than the earlier pricing of Rs 7.13 lakh and 7.56 lakh. The relaunched Brio will compete with Swift’s top variant (Rs 5.53 lakh) and i20 mid-variant Asta (Rs 5,84,208).


“Competition is increasing and we had to fulfill customer expectations. The new price has been possible due to production and supply chain efficiencies in last two years. We are quite confident that with the new pricing, numbers would look up again,” Sen said.


Jazz’s monthly sales dropped to an average of 250 units (from the earlier 500 units) after the Japan crisis hit production. Seki Inaba, marketing director at Honda Siel pointed out that current supply constraints may push up Jazz’s waiting period to a month. The waiting period for City may be around two weeks.


With the production of Brio starting soon, Honda also expects to further bring down Jazz’s costs as both the cars share parts. The company had in May 2011 cut the price of Honda City by Rs 66,000 through similar localisation and cost efficient measures. The base variant of City now costs Rs 7,49,000.
 

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