Japanese two-wheeler major Honda Wednesday said it will have to reconsider its future investments in India given the uncertain situation after the government's reported plan to push for 100 per cent changeover of below-150cc bikes to electric by 2025, a top company official said.
The company, which is present in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) would, however, said it will continue with its ongoing production capacity expansion project at its Gujarat plant.
Besides, two-wheeler major would also continue to invest in new models and technologies for the Indian market.
"We will continue to invest on new models, features, new technologies but production capacity needs to be reconsidered..additional investment is under consideration depending on the road map for the electric vehicles," HMSI President and CEO Minoru Kato told reporters here.
He was replying to a query whether the company would continue to invest beyond Gujarat plant, hire new people and invest more in the country.
When asked if the company is concerned about government's reported plan to push for changeover of less than 150 cc bikes into electric, Kato said the aim for conversion till 2025 is quite early and the proposal requires more deliberations.
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"As far as Indian market is concerned we understand the government direction but on the other hand because of BS VI regulation, manufactures and many suppliers are making big investments. So, 2025 is too much early to changeover to 100 per cent in below 150 cc bikes," he noted.
He further said: "We need to discuss further as part of SIAM member and also with government side to find a proper road map to changeover to EVs".
Already, leading two-wheeler makers Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company have expressed their reservation on the proposed government proposal.
The government reportedly is considering a proposal to ban sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) three-wheelers by 2023 and less than 150 cc two-wheelers by 2025.
When asked if there was communication gap between the government and the industry on the matter, Kato said: "Yes, that's right. There needs to be a better communication."
He added that the company currently has no plans to come up with electric models in the country.
"EV is a big challenge for us. How to meet customer expectations? There are lots of concerns regarding range...As of today HMSI has no concrete plan to produce EVs," Kato said.
He, however, added that Honda R&D in Japan has developed many EV models but currently there is no specific one for the Indian market.
On asked about the company's BS-VI switch over plans, he added that the process will be done in a step wise approach and almost the entire current lineup would be upgraded to the next level.
He, however, hinted that its bike Navi would only be exported and not sold in the domestic market.
The company Wednesday unveiled Activa 125cc scooter with BS-VI emission norms-compliant engine. It will start selling the model towards the end of second quarter of the current financial year.
The new BS VI version of the scooter would be 10-15 per cent expensive than the BS IV version, Kato said.
The current version of the scooter is priced up to Rs 64,733 (ex showroom Delhi).
The company will manufacture only BS-VI version of the Activa 125 and discontinue the BS IV version, HMSI Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said.
The new model comes with various new features including a jolt-free engine start, programmed fuel injection and new digital analogue metre, among others.
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