With the gradual recovery in the two-wheeler market, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India is planning to start a new manufacturing line at the Gujarat factory at the beginning of the next financial year.

The company is also likely to announce its electric vehicle (EV) strategy by the end of this month, and its factory in Karnataka is likely to be the base for EVs. 

The top executive of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India says that the first electric vehicle from the company is slated to hit the roads within the next one year itself. The company is open to alliances to participate in the growing zero-emission space, he added.

Speaking on the sidelines of the new Shine 100 cc launch Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President and CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India told media persons that he expects that the company will look at utilising its total capacity next financial year.

"The demand is coming back and with the introduction of Shine 100, for the first time I expect that next year we will be operating close to our total capacity,” said Ogata.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has a capacity of 5.2 million units and it is currently operating at almost 100 percent. The third manufacturing line is likely to add another 6 lakh units per annum, taking up the capacity to 5.8 million. 

The company claims that the normalcy in demand is returning, and even the rural markets are showing signs of recovery, with the introduction of the new Shine 100 cc, it expects to bring in incremental volumes.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India claims it is already number one in the South and Western parts of India, and the company expects that with the Shine 100, it will try to cater to North and Central India, which has a big contribution of 100 cc models.

The Japanese two-wheeler maker has so far outpaced the market and it is planning to sustain the momentum next year.

Ogata says he is targeting to sell about 3 lakh units of the new Shine 100 in a year, which he wants to take it up to 6 lakh units over a period of the next three years.

"I have confidence that we will eventually move to an exclusive Shine 100 line eventually based on our anticipated demand," Ogata added.

The head of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India says that the in-depth study of 100 cc was undertaken several years ago, and the company is conducting a similar study on expanding the premium end of the market.- see if this meaning is correct from the original. 

On the electrification front, the company is planning to bring in both fixed-battery and swappable battery alternatives to the marketplace.

(with inputs from Chandan B Mallik and Amit Vijay M)