Japanse car companies in India plan major expansion of models and dealerships

Japanese automakers plan India revelry.

BY OUR AUTO CORRESPONDENT

February 21, 2006: India is all set to be a haven for Japanese auto majors. Automakers from that part of the world are making a beeline for India to expand their sales channels here.

This, apparently, follows an intensifying turf battle between Japanese auto giants themselves as well as with western and South Korean competitors in the market. It has been reported that the Suzuki Motor Corp aims to increase the number of local dealerships from 7269 by 50 per cent to 600 per cent by 2010-end. Suzuki which started automobile production and sales in India in 1983, is currently the largest player in the market, boasting of a 50 per cent share. It already has an extensive network of 209 local sales firms operating 405 dealerships. Adding to this, the company is likely to set up more showrooms and maintenance depots in regional cities with high growth potential.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp, with 7203 outlets in Japan, plans to double the number of models on sale in India to eight. The auto giant will also triple the size of its local dealership network to 200 units by 2010, from the current 63, a report said. The company looks at boosting its share of the Indian market to 10 per cent from the current 4 per cent by 2010.

Another automobile major, Honda Motor Co which boasts of a total of 7267 dealerships in Japan, has plans to increase the number of dealers to 80 in fiscal 2008 and to more than 100 by fiscal 2010, from 53 at present.
Honda in India has cars targeted at auto enthusiasts to luxury vehicles for wealthy customers in India.