Honda eyes double sales in UK

from emerging markets.
“We have now reached the stage of going on the offensive,” said Takanobu Ito, Honda’s president and chief executive.
In a bullish statement he said countries including India and China would help to drive growth. The company sold 3,1 million vehicles in the financial year ending March 2012. Mr Ito said Honda would strengthen its offering of cheaper models to appeal to emerging market customers, and said the company’s engineers were committed to speeding up model development.
“The remodelled Fit subcompact, which will be rolled out globally starting next year and sold as the Jazz in some regions will also help boost growth,” Mr Ito said.
Britain stands to gain from Honda’s ambitious expansion plans, with its manufacturing plant in Swindon at the heart of the company’s European operations.
Meanwhile, AsiaOne News reports that Honda Motor has signed a joint venture deal with Bangladesh’s state-owned steel corporation BSEC to assemble motorcycles for the South Asian nation’s booming economy, officials said.
The Japanese automobile giant will own 70 percent stake in the company, called Bangladesh Honda (Private) Limited, with the rest owned by Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation, said BSEC director Mobarak Hossain.
The venture will assemble motorcycles at a rented facility from next year with the first year’s production target of 30 000 pieces, he told AFP, adding the parts would be imported from Honda plants in neighbouring nations.
“But our plan is to manufacture motorcycle engines and other key parts in Bangladesh in about five years’ time. We’ll move to a permanent factory after two years and then gradually we’ll increase production,” he said.
Sales of motorcycles have been booming in Bangladesh with the building of a road network that now connects almost every village and town.
Last year 107 927 motorcycles were sold in the country, with a yearly growth of 22 percent, according to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, which keeps the data on new vehicle sales. — Daily Telegraph.