Egyptian subsidiary of Honda likely to be acquired by India

MUMBAI: India s top motorcycle maker, Hero Honda Motors Ltd., is likely to acquire subsidiaries of Honda Motor Co in Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and other African countries, the Business Standard reported on Monday. New Delhi-based Hero Honda, in which India s Munjal family and Japan s Honda each hold 26 percent, would manufacture its existing products in those markets, the paper said. Talk is on with Honda Motor for a joint initiative in some foreign markets. Though we have been meeting the Honda people on this issue, nothing concrete has come of it, Hero Honda managing director Pawan Munjal was quoted as saying. Another company executive told the paper that Hero Honda had identified the African markets as Honda was not a significant player there but had some manufacturing and marketing base. Last week, the company posted a bigger-than-expected 9.2 percent drop in quarterly profit as it battled rising costs and intense competition from rival Bajaj Auto Ltd.