Honda Siel Cars India today said it had postponed completion of its plant in Rajasthan by two years due to weak demand.
“The new plant would come up by the end of 2011, two years behind the schedule,” Honda Siel Cars India’s Vice-President Marketing, Jnaneswar Sen, told reporters on the sidelines of the Siam annual convention here.
The company is setting up its second plant in the country at Alwar, Rajasthan. It has a manufacturing facility in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
The Rajasthan plant was planned to be completed in two phases by 2009, with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.
The plant has completed the first phase, where body parts of sedan Honda City and hatchback Jazz are being produced, Sen said, adding that the full car roll out from the plant would be possible only when the second phase goes on stream.
It has invested Rs 750 crore in the plant so far. In order to meet the festive season demand, Honda is planning to increase the number of shifts at its Greater Noida facility.
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“We are operating on single shift basis, but by next month we will start double shift,” Sen said.
The company is planning increase production of Jazz by 50 per cent. At present, it produces 5,000 Jazz per month. On the back of improvement in demand, the company is expecting a double digit growth in the current financial year.