Big, big market for small Hondas

While a world-wide recession has slowed motorcycle sales and production in North America, Europe, and other places, India seems to have no such problem.

Honda has announced that it will build a second motorcycle factory there and that 2,000 people will work in it. Cost: about $100 million Cdn.

Growing demand in India for Honda's motorcycles has prompted the move, and Honda says it could double production in the plant if necessary. Once the factory is on-line late in 2011, it will make about 600,000 motorcycles a year, and Honda's total production in India will be 2.2 million vehicles a year. The plant will be located near Delhi.

There's only one other market of comparable size for makers of motorcycles and other good things — China, and sales of just over a million motorcycles there in 2009 set a ninth straight record and were up 11 per cent over 2008 sales, Honda said.