Honda Cars India has added a second production shift at its Tapukara vehicle manufacturing plant in Rajasthan. "After [a] gradual ramp-up, we will be operating on full capacity in that plant by the middle of November 2014," said a company spokesperson in a statement sent to IHS Automotive. Spread across 450 acres, the integrated manufacturing facility in Rajasthan houses a vehicle assembly line, a diesel engine component production line and a forging plant. Honda also operates an assembly plant in Greater Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Significance: By mid-November, the shift will bolster the plant's capacity utilisation to 100%, or 120,000 units per year. The automaker invested INR25 billion (USD405 million) in the plant last year under its plan to double output capacity to 240,000 units per year. The additional shift is expected to ensure better availability of the Honda City sedan, which is facing renewed competition from Maruti Suzuki's newly launched Ciaz. In August, Honda shifted production of the City sedan to the Tapukara plant while producing the Mobilio multi-purpose vehicle at the Greater Noida plant. The addition of a new shift reflects the urgency of the situation and the swiftness of Honda's response; originally, the shift was expected to be added towards the end of the financial year. With an aggressive model launch programme, Honda is going to need the extra capacity. IHS Automotive projects Honda's sales in India to total 172,500 units in 2014 and increase to 188,100 units in 2015 and 220,000 units in 2016.
