Japanese carmaker Honda Cars India (HCIL) has announced that it will export its recently launched 5th generation Honda City to left-hand-drive countries.

In a first for the Japanese carmaker, this marks the beginning of production of left-hand-drive models in India for exports and reaffirms its commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. The company has begun the export of 5th Gen Honda City with the dispatch of the initial batch to Middle-East countries from the Pipavav port in Gujarat and Ennore port in Chennai.

The carmaker has been exporting the right-hand-drive models of the new City to South Africa since August 2020 and neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan from October 2020.

Speaking on the announcement, Gaku Nakanishi, president and CEO, Honda Cars India said, “Honda City has been the benchmark of sedans in India and addition of exports of its left-hand-drive model to completely new destinations is a great opportunity for us to strengthen our India business. We have invested in creating an expansive world-class manufacturing facility at Tapukara which can produce both right-hand and left-hand drive models that allows us to manage demand for domestic and international consumers. The 5th Generation City has been very well appreciated in the Indian market and we hope that we will be able to replicate this success and satisfy our global customers with its best quality and performance.”

“This is in line with our commitment towards ‘Make in India’ where HCIL has been manufacturing all its volume models with more than 90% localisation and has been integral in developing a strong ecosystem in the country”, added Nakanishi.

The OEM has been exporting models including Amaze, WR-V and City to Nepal, Bhutan, South Africa and SADC countries. The export of 5th Generation Honda City (both right-hand and left-hand drive) is the newest addition to the export business from India.