Honda two-wheelers restarts production at three plants

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has recommenced manufacturing operations in a phased manner at three of its plants.

• Production was halted on May 1, 2021

• The plant in Karnataka continues to remain shut

The Japanese company’s factories in Manesar (Haryana), Tapukara (Rajasthan) and Vithalapur (Gujarat) have restarted operations. The fourth plant, located at Kolar, Karnataka, remains shut due to the lockdown in Karnataka on May 25.

The two-wheeler OEM has a total manufacturing capacity of 6.4 million units as under:

Plant 1: Manesar (Haryana) - 1.6 million units

Plant 2: Tapukara (Rajasthan) - 1.2 million units

Plant 3: Kolar (Karnataka) - 2.4 million units

Plant 4: Vithalapur (Gujarat) - 1.2 million units

The company has also announced support for its authorised dealers who were under complete lockdown. Under this initiative, the company will bear full interest cost of dealer inventory under complete lockdown for 30 days or more.

Atsushi Ogata, MD, President & CEO, HMSI, “We are gradually resuming production operations following all Covid-19 compliance and lockdown guidelines by respective state governments. While there are visible signs of recovery in the country, we will continue to monitor the situation very closely and are moving forward with safety and well-being of all our stakeholders as a top priority.”

Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, HMSI, added, “In these difficult times, Honda 2Wheelers India is proactively extending financial support to its dealers. We are confident that, full interest support on the existing dealer inventory of those dealers who are under lockdown for 30 days or more will ease their immediate business continuity concern. Also, there is a positive momentum visible in the COVID-19 vaccination drive along with various other measures by Central and State governments.”