New Delhi, 11 Apr 2008

Even as the two-wheeler industry is facing a major slowdown in sales, Hero Honda has started a new plant at Haridwar in Uttaranchal with an initial investment of Rs450 crore.

The plant, its third in the country, will manufacture between 5 and 7 lakh two-wheelers which can be scaled up to 10 lakh units by the year end.

The bike major, which sold more than 3.03 million units in FY08, has increased its market share in the period to 52% from 49% in the previous financial year.

The plant in Haridwar will be used to manufacture Hero Honda’s Splendor Plus and Passion range of motorcycles and other high volume, high margin offerings.

Hero Honda had completed the construction of the plant last year but delayed the operations to avail itself of the full ten-year tax holiday from the Uttarakhand Government.

News Source: http://www.livemint.com