Honda set for record car sales in 2014

Launch of new City and MPV Mobilio helps sustain strong sales momentum.

December 26, 2014 11:58 pm | Updated 11:58 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

Riding on new launches, Japanese auto major Honda is set for over 62 per cent growth in its sales in India this year at around 1.8 lakh units. The company, which launched two models — mid-sized sedan City and multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) Mobilio during the year, had sold 1.11 lakh units in 2013.

“2014 was a very successful year for Honda as it continued its growth journey for the third consecutive year,” Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL) Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing Jnaneswar Sen said in a statement.

During January-November 2014, the company sold 1.65 lakh units, up 61.8 per cent, from 1.02 lakh units in the same period of previous year.

Mr. Sen said Honda was set to end 2014 with a record sale of 1.8 lakh units.

“In line with business expansion, the company also made strong progress in expanding its dealership network during the year, and crossed the milestone of 200 dealers in the country in November 2014,” he added.

The company plans to rope in another 100 dealers by the end of the next fiscal, and take the total tally to 300 facilities by March 2016. Elaborating on the launches during the year, he said that the new generation City, which was launched in January, had sold more than 71,000 units till November 2014.

The company also made a foray into the MPV segment with the Honda Mobilio. This vehicle has cumulatively sold more than 22,000 units in the initial five months after launch. The car maker crossed the sales milestone of one lakh units in August this year, and also saw its production capacity double during the year. “2014 also witnessed doubling of production capacity in HCIL with the start of assembly operations in the Tapukara plant in February 2014,” Mr. Sen said.

Buoyed by strong sales momentum for its cars, the production was ramped up within few months and the plant has been running on two shift operations since November 2014, he added.

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