Japanese automobile major Honda Motor’s Indian subsidiary is working on a multi-pronged strategy including

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launching 500cc, 1000cc and even higher end two wheelers and rework on its corporate identity across the dealer network, said a top official.

‘We will do a lot of activities on corporate identity and branding. The changes will be more visible across the dealer network,” said Makato Yoshii, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Private Limited (HMSI) operating head (south and west).

He, however, declined to tell how much the company is investing in branding.

The automobile maker, which in March has parted ways with Hero Group, is also looking to launch more models in India.

“We have vehicles from 50 cc to 1,800 cc. However, 50 cc is not preferred here. We will look to launch 500 cc, 1,000 cc and above engine displacement two wheelers in the Indian markets,” he said.

On Friday, it in Andhra Pradesh market launched a 250 cc Honda CBR 250 R, what it called a first step in rolling out high end vehicles. Yoshii, however, did not gave time frame for these launches.

Orders pending for four months (about 1,50,000) have been a concern for HMSI in India. The second plant in Rajasthan, which was opened last month, will achieve full capacity by December this year to take total production to 2.1 million and will ease the situation to an extent.

The Karnataka government had on Thursday given the nod for HMSI proposal to set up its third plant, estimated to be a Rs 1,300 to 1,400 crore project. This plant, with a capacity of 1.2 million units per annum, is expected to be ready by end of 2013, he said.

The CBR 250 R is now localised 75 per cent and the company will work to increase it to about 85 to 90 per cent to improve the margins. Also, the new launches which will happen in due course will be localised to a large extent. Honda has set a target to sell 50,000 CBRs this year, said Yoshii.

The high interest rates will make a bigger dent on the sales of automobiles than the fuel price hike, he said adding that the India two wheeler industry, which sells 12 million units a year, will not grow at the same 28 per cent as last year. “The growth will be in double digits,” he said.