Honda to dissolve Indian motorcycle joint venture+

TOKYO, Dec. 4 Kyodo -
Honda Motor Co. will formally decide as early as later this month to dissolve a
motorcycle joint venture in India by selling its stock holdings, sources
familiar with the matter said Saturday.
Honda is also mulling construction of a new factory for its wholly-owned
subsidiary in India to promote the motorbike business independently in the
fast-growing market, according to the sources.
The Japanese automaker is considering selling the shares of Hero Honda Motors
Ltd. to its business partner in India and a fund, and the sale price is likely
to reach up to 100 billion yen, the sources said.
Hero Honda, owned by Honda and its local partner at 26 percent each, has a
roughly 50 percent share of the Indian motorcycle market, and sold some 4.3
million motorbikes in 2009.
Sales of the wholly-owned subsidiary, meanwhile, came to around 1.1 million in
2009, with Honda's total market share in India predicted to decline in the
short term.
==Kyodo