Honda Motor Co to get new identity by month end

Japanese car maker Honda Motor Co will have a new identity for its car business in India by the end of this month after breaking up with joint venture partner Usha International of the Shriram Group.

The company had last month announced it was buying out the Indian partner from their joint venture Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, established in December 1995.
 
"We have applied for the name change just a week back and it usually takes two to three weeks time. By the end of this month, the name change should happen,"

HSCI senior vice president and director Raman Kumar Sharma told PTI that the company had applied for the name change just a week back and it usually took two to three weeks. He added he expected the name change to happen by the end of the month.
 
Speaking on the sidelines of the annual convention of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in New Delhi, Sharma ruled out the possibility of any structural change to the company.
 
He added, the Honda name would continue to be part of the identity and the company would continue to have two different companies for its two-wheeler and car businesses, though he did not disclose the new name of the company that had been suggested to the Registrar of Companies.
 
PTI qouted sources as saying that the company could have simply gone for Honda Cars India by just dropping of 'Siel.'

According to Sharma, apart from the exit of Siddharth Shriram, who was the chairman of the company till the JV ended, the HSCI board would not change as as there were no other directors from the Shriram group.

Usha International's entire 3.16-per cent stake in HSCI was acquired by Honda Motor Company for Rs180 crore.
 
According to HSCI senior vice president sales and marketing Jnaneswar Sen, the compay would launch an automatic version of  hatchback Brio, next month.
 
He added, the company was expecting to improve its sales performance during the upcoming festive season.

The company sold 29,932 units in the April-August period this fiscal as against 19,433 units in the year-ago period, a jump of 54 per cent.
 
Sen added the Honda's Greater Noida plant which boasted an annual capacity of 1.2 lakh units, currently had 60-70 per cent utilisation.

Replying to a question as to whether the company would go for price hike due to rupee decline against they yen, he said, the company was studying whether to increase prices or not but had yet to take a decision.
 
Regarding the export of components, he said the company was looking to increase it by expanding the range and include some more engine parts. He added, the company was looking to export components worth over Rs470 crore this year against Rs299 crore of last year.