Hero Honda Motors to set up third manufacturing plant  ( September '2,2005, HBL)

HERO Honda Motors Ltd on Thursday said it would announce the setting up of a third manufacturing plant by November to meet increased demand.

"The third plant would start production before Diwali next year," said the Hero Honda Managing Director, Mr Pawan Munjal. He, however, declined to disclose any further details on the location of the plant.

"Considering the way we are growing and the increasing opportunities in the market, the third plant will go up to the scale of the current plants in the long term," Mr Munjal said, when asked about the plant's capacity. Hero Honda now has two manufacturing facilities at Haryana.

The company is also planning to foray into the scooter segment this fiscal, Mr Munjal said.

The scooter segment is a one million unit per annum market, and the company plans to start with producing low volumes with a price tag of less than Rs 40,000.

Hero Honda, at the moment, enjoys a more than 50 per cent market share in the motorcycle segment.