Honda starts exporting Brio to South Africa

Honda Cars India on Thursday said it is targetting the Southern African market to push exports and plans to ship 1,600 units of the hatchback Brio by the end of this fiscal.

The company shipped the first lot of 390 units of Brio from here today to South Africa. This is the first model from the company's stable to be exported to that country.

"We are first shipping the Brio to South Africa. We are also looking countries in SADC (Southern African Development Community) such as Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius and Seychelles," Honda Cars India (HCI) Senior Vice-President Jnaneswar Sen said here.

When asked how many units of Brio the company is looking to export to the SADC market, he said: "By the end of March next year, the target is 1,600 units."

Sen said that Brio, which is rolled out from the company's Great Noida plant, has a 90% localisation element. “We are producing 2,500 per units of the Brio per month and the exports will also come from this," he said.

HCI has been focussing on neighbouring countries in the SAARC region for exports.

In the last 14 years, the company has exported a total of 1,028 cars, including City, Jazz and Accord, to SAARC region. Now it has added Brio to the export portfolio.