The Japanese automotive major Honda Motor Corporation today said it plans to utilise the full production capacity of about 1,00,000 cars per annum in India during the year with sales projected to get a boost from the recently launched small car Brio.

The company also sees the localisation content, which has been crucial to peg the small car pricing aggressively in the Indian market, going up from the present 80 per cent to 90 per cent by March 2012.

Mr Saki Inaba, Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, said that the Indian market is crucial for the company and Honda is evaluating various options to expand its presence. “Though we have not taken any decision on expansion or the launch of more models into India, the immediate focus of the company is to ensure that we use up the production capacity,” he said.

Launching its small car in Andhra Pradesh priced in the range of Rs 4.04 lakh to Rs 5.19 lakh ex-showroom for four of its Brio models, Mr Inaba said the company is also laying some focus on imports to some countries in the region. The vendor development plan initiated by the company would be useful to supply parts to some of the Honda plants located in the region, particularly Indonesia.

“We are conservatively expecting sales volume of about 5,000 cars per month,” he said.

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