Honda to boost Asian imports

Honda to boost Asian imports

TOKYO (Reuters): Japan's second-biggest automaker Honda Motor
Co Ltd said on Monday it planned to expand domestic sales of
cheap motorcycles made at its plants in Asia to cash in on
growing demand for cut-price vehicles.

"We plan to import motorcycles priced less than 100,000 yen
($854.5) from our manufacturing bases in Asia, especially India
and China, and sell them in Japan," Honda President Hiroyuki
Yoshino told a news conference.

"We need to improve our production structure to respond to the
market demand," he said.

Details of the import plan, which is intended as an answer to
Japan's expanding second-hand motorcycle market, will be decided
later, he said.

The announcement follows the company's release in Japan of a
new series of scooters powered by 4-cycle 50cc engines, targeted
mainly at the youth market. Honda said it would aim for domestic
sales of 60,000 units for the scooters, which will range in price
from 159,000 yen to 179,000 yen.