Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd on Saturday has announced that it has exported 2,630 two-wheelers in April 2020. However, domestic sales of the Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer was zero due to the lockdown across the country that has been in effect since March 25.
Honda has suspended all four of its production facilities suspended operations from 22nd March till now in accordance with lockdown guidelines issued by the Government. Not just Honda, this is the case with all major auto manufacturers in the country. All the manufacturing plants and dealerships have been shut down in April 2020 due to the imposition of the nationwide lockdown.
The Way Forward
Elaborating on how Honda is standing united with its business partners while preparing for the disruptive future, Mr Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Since suspending operations in this unprecedented crisis, Honda is taking strong measures for business continuity, safeguarding health & wellbeing of Staff, families & communities at large. We have eased the anxiety of our business partners and improved their cash-flows through quick liquidity infusion. Promoting #StayHomeStaySafe for our customers, we have already extended the Free service and Warranty period by another 2 months.”
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Adding further to the discussion, he said, “Parallely as a responsible manufacturer, Honda is extensively recalibrating all its SOPs – not only within the company but the entire ecosystem; from the viewpoint of both personnel and workplace safety in COVID-19 era. At the same time, during the lockdown, we continue skilling-up HMSI and dealer staff with various e-learning modules. Preparations are on to resume operations after receiving respective approvals from Government while re-aligning with supply-chain constraints and evolving market sentiments.”
Needless to say, the automobile industry has become one of the biggest casualties of the ongoing lockdown enforced by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Government, however, is looking at avenues where it can start the business activities. Therefore, some manufacturing facilities outside the Red Zone have been given permission to carry out their operations in a limited manner with a limited workforce. Even when the lockdown is lifted, manufacturers are not hoping for a spike in vehicle sales because people will avoid flocking dealerships for the moment. Furthermore, even automobile production will also remain low initially because of a possible shortage of components.