Honda Cars India, for the first time, has begun the exports of the new-gen City sedan to the left hand drive countries. The company has started rolling out the left hand drive version of City from its Tapukara facility in Rajasthan for exports under the Indian Government's ‘Make in India’ initiative. The first batch of LHD Honda City was exported to Middle East countries from the Pipavav port in Gujarat and Ennore port in Chennai. The Japanese automaker has already been exporting the right hand drive models of the sedan to South Africa since August 2020 and neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan from Oct 2020.
Speaking on the announcement, Mr. Gaku Nakanishi, President & CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “Honda City has been the benchmark of sedans in India and addition of exports of its Left Hand Drive model to completely new destinations is a great opportunity for us to strengthen our India business. We have invested in creating an expansive world-class manufacturing facility at Tapukara which can produce both right hand and left hand drive models that allows us to manage demand for domestic and international consumers. The 5th Generation City has been very well appreciated in the Indian market and we hope that we will be able to replicate this success and satisfy our global customers with its best quality & performance.”
Honda has been exporting other models such as Amaze, WR-V & City to Nepal, Bhutan, South Africa and SADC countries while the new-gen City in both right and left hand drive avatars is the newest addition to the export business from India. The brand has plans to export the sedan to more than 12 Left Hand Drive countries in 2021. It also intends to achieve a 3-fold increase in export volumes from India. “This is in line with our commitment towards ‘Make in India’ where HCIL has been manufacturing all its volume models with more than 90% localization and has been integral in developing a strong ecosystem in the country”, he further added. For those asking, Honda has confirmed the launch of City hybrid in the Indian market this year itself.
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