Jazz on schedule, says Honda

Honda Motors India Ltd has said the launch of its new small car Jazz will be in June as scheduled, while its plans to bring in a new version of the popular Accord are also on track, even as it plans to continue production cuts and may raise prices across models.

''Our product is our weapon...therefore we plan to launch it on its sheduled time,'' Honda Motors India Ltd president and chief executive officer Masahiro Takedagawa told reporters in New Delhi over the week end.

Trial production of the Jazz had already started, he added.

The company will continue to cut its India output by over 45 per cent for the next six months in order to prevent inventory build-up amid the slowdown in the domestic car market.

"We have already adjusted our productions. Today our inventory level for India is quite appropriate - two weeks for our own hand and two weeks on dealers' side. Probably for the next six months, single shift operations will continue," Takedagawa said.

The company, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Siel Group, has cut its production to 200 cars a day in a single shift since the beginning of this year from the capacity of producing 380 units a day in two shifts, he added.