Much smaller and less expensive Honda motorcycles and scooters are popular in crowded South West Asia.
Honda Motor Company today signed a joint venture agreement with Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) to establish a motorcycle production and sales joint venture company before the end of 2012. The JV – 70% of its shares held by Honda, 30% by BSEC – will produce locally.
In Bangladesh, with a population of approximately 160 million, industry-wide motorcycle sales in 2011 were 180,000 units, an 11% increase compared to 2010. Steady growth of the market is expected to continue, according to Honda. In 2011, Honda motorcycle sales were more than 16 million, down from 18 million in 2011.
Since 1972, Honda motorcycle production and wholesales functions have remained under a technical collaboration agreement with Atlas Bangladesh Ltd., a BSEC subsidiary. When the new joint venture company begins operations, it will establish an operation with integrated production and sales functions under the basic Honda policy of “start small, grow big.”
The JV will also work with other Honda operations among Southwest Asian countries including India and Pakistan.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
