Honda to build new Indonesia plant

JAPAN: Honda will build a new plant in Indonesia to boost its production of motorcycles, which are becoming a key pillar of the automaker's business in Asia, company president Takanobu Ito said Tuesday.

The new plant in Jakarta will begin operating next year and expand Honda's overall production capacity in Indonesia to four million units. The country is the world's third largest motorcycle market after China and India.

"In emerging nations, motorcycles are a part of people's daily lives, and giant markets with the overwhelming size of their populations have the potential to grow further," Ito told a press conference.

Honda Motor, Japan's second largest automaker, aims to expand motorcycle production in Asia excluding Japan to 18 million units from 16 million at present by the end of 2011.

Honda will also introduce a new sports type model in Thailand this autumn following the launch of its PCX scooter last month, Ito said.