Honda Cars India, the Indian arm of the Japanese carmaker is set to manufacture 1.6L diesel engine in the country for the first time at the company's Tapukara plant in Rajasthan for export purpose. The export of the new 1.6L diesel engine from India is expected to begin in July, reports ET Auto.
The engines will be first sent to Thailand where Honda has a large manufacturing set up for designing and developing the vehicles. It will be later directed to other manufacturing facilities of Honda in different countries to use in the company's global models. Currently, Honda's Indian portfolio does not offer 1.6L diesel engine option.
The company's Tapukara plant spreads over 450 acres and has an annual production capacity of 1.8 lakh engines. At present, the engine assembly at its plant in Tapukara produces 450 engines daily. However, the plant has the capacity to make 670 engines on a daily basis. With the production of the new 1.6L diesel engine, Honda could use the remaining capacity at the plant.
HCIL started the production of cars from its Tapukara Plant from February 2014 and makes the 1.2L and 1.5L petrol and 1.5L diesel motors. The company's current India product range includes Honda Brio, Jazz, Amaze, Mobilio, City, BR-V and CR-V.
