 "Honda's India unit to account for 25% of Asia Pacific sales by 2017")
The India unit of Honda Motor Co Ltd will account for 25% of the Japanese carmaker's Asia Pacific sales target of 1.2 million units by March 2017, Managing Officer Yoshiyuki Matsumoto said on Wednesday.
Honda plans to raise the number of dealers in India to 230 by March 2015 from 179 now, said Hironori Kanayama, president and chief executive officer, Honda Cars India Ltd.
On Wednesday, Honda launched a seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle, Mobilio, that will compete with similar vehicles from Maruti Suzuki , Toyota Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co, among others.
The ex-showroom price for the base grade petrol version of the new car in Delhi will be Rs 6,49,000 ($10,800), said Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice president, marketing and sales at Honda Cars India Ltd.
Honda's entry-level compact sedan Amaze and its top-selling sedan City have increased the company's sales in India by 40% to 40,516 units in the April-June quarter from the year-ago period, according to industry data.
($1= 60.1800 rupees)