Honda opens new technical center in India
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) opened a new technical center for research and development in India on January 17.
Spread over 10,000 square meters in Honda’s Manesar facility, the center employs 200 engineers from Honda Research & Development India and HMSI associates.
The center houses an advanced wind tunnel facility that simulates real-world airflow to monitor aerodynamics and its effect on vehicles to develop fuel-efficient two-wheelers.
Atsushi Amataka, president, Honda Research & Development India Pvt. Ltd. (HRID), elaborated on the global significance of Honda’s new technical center.
Traditionally, Honda R&D operates as a separate entity across all motorcycle, automobile and power product divisions globally. Undertaking a major paradigm shift, the new technical center is a first step by Honda towards a new form of global operations. The new technical center combines an integrated system of design, engineering, BOP/purchasing and quality (DEBQ) under one roof, to create a globally optimized operating system that advances local development of higher quality products at low cost.
“As the world’s No. 1 two-wheeler maker, Honda carries with it a legacy of cutting edge R&D resulting in customer oriented products. India is today the center of attention globally with the new technical center. We are committed to deliver faster development of products of highest quality with low cost drawing efficiencies from R&D, designing, engineering, purchasing and quality under one roof for the first time,” said Amataka.
The same day, Honda also launched its Honda Eco technology across its Activa, Aviator and Dio lines, making them the most fuel-efficient automatic scooters in India, according to the company. The new technology boosts the fuel efficiency of Honda’s automatic scooters by a further 11% to 60 kilometers per liter.
Honda also announced plans to release new two-wheeler models in India every quarter.
