Honda to expand dealer network in India

Honda Cars India, which recently launched its Mobilio MPV, is planning to ramp up its dealer network to support sales of its three key products that are selling briskly.

While the Mobilio has got off to a good start with 5,530 units sold in August and 20,000 bookings in the pipeline, the City and the Amaze have been selling in the region of 5,500 and 4,000 units respectively.

Jnaneswar Sen, director, sales & marketing, Honda Cars India, was speaking to our sister publication, Autocar Professional, on the sidelines of last week’s SIAM convention. As part of the dealer expansion, Honda wants to increase the number of outlets from 170 in 107 locations to 230 outlets in 150 locations by the end of the current fiscal year.

Honda had halted production of the new City last month that has already garnered over 50,000 bookings, in order to shift production of the sedan to its Tapukara, Rajasthan plant where it currently runs just one shift. With the festive season around the corner, Honda is going to kick off its second shift in November, top sources said. That will take Honda’s annual capacity from 180,000 to 240,000 units.