Japan’s Honda Motor Co Ltd on Tuesday mentioned it’s inside attain of attaining the primary place within the Indian two-wheeler market and can introduce a wide range of merchandise, together with scooters and EVs, to solidify its place.
The corporate, which parted methods in 2011 with erstwhile accomplice Hero MotoCorp — the present market chief, mentioned it’ll additionally try to seize the biggest market share within the electrical two-wheeler phase in India, the place it’ll start working a devoted electrical two-wheeler manufacturing plant in 2028.
“We have now launched extremely aggressive merchandise of every kind… With the benefit of the power of 6,000 sellers and repair networks overlaying all of the geographies of India, now we have elevated the unit gross sales. Now, the primary place is properly inside our sight,” Honda Motor Co Government Officer, Chief Officer, Head of Bike and Energy Merchandise Operations, Bike Enterprise Unit, Minoru Kato mentioned in a information convention in Tokyo.
“Going ahead, we are going to accommodate the varied wants and earnings ranges of consumers (in India). We are going to fortify with all merchandise, together with EVs, scooters and bikes, to be able to solidify the primary place.” Honda is current within the Indian two-wheeler market via its wholly-owned arm Honda Bike and Scooter India (HMSI). In 2011, it exited from the erstwhile three way partnership Hero Honda after 26 profitable years.
As per knowledge from the Society of Indian Vehicle Producers (SIAM), within the April-December interval this fiscal, HMSI has narrowed the hole to Hero MotoCorp with complete wholesales of 41,38,346 items to the Indian rival’s 43,30,928 items.
In the identical interval final fiscal, HMSI’s wholesales have been 33,75,566 items in comparison with Hero MotoCorp’s 40,95,084.
Honda mentioned in India, the world’s largest two-wheeler market, it has been “constructing and enhancing a beautiful product lineup that accommodates the varied wants of consumers”.
Its lineup presently contains ACTIVA, the best-selling commuter scooter mannequin; Dio, a scooter focusing on younger individuals; the sunshine motorbike mannequin Shine and SP, a high-value-added mild motorbike mannequin.
The corporate additional mentioned to additional broaden gross sales, it’ll pursue numerous initiatives to strengthen its enterprise in India, together with the automation of manufacturing vegetation and energetic cultivation and utilisation of native suppliers.
As well as, Honda mentioned it’ll additional broaden its two-wheeler enterprise by implementing environment friendly product methods globally, corresponding to exporting high-value, highly-competitive merchandise nurtured in India to the South American market, the place buyer wants are just like these of India.
On its EV plans, Honda mentioned in November, it introduced two electrical two-wheeler fashions designed solely for India — ‘ACTIVA e’ with a swappable battery and QC1 powered by a set battery.
“Honda will leverage its broad gross sales community to boost the battery charging community, which can eradicate buyer anxiousness about working out of battery energy. Via these initiatives, Honda may even try to seize the biggest market share within the electrical motorbike (two-wheeler) market in India,” it added.
Honda mentioned it’s working to promote its electrical two-wheeler fashions within the worth vary the place the entire price of possession (TCO) for the three years of possession will likely be equal to that of ICE fashions.
“To realize this goal, Honda will start working a devoted electrical motorbike manufacturing plant in India in 2028. All kinds of electrical fashions will likely be produced by combining modules which can be commonised for a number of fashions,” the corporate mentioned.
Moreover, for batteries, the core element of electrical fashions, Honda has been working with battery producers to determine specs suited to the traits of bikes and guarantee steady procurement, it added.
In collaboration with OMC Energy, which operates a distributed energy provide and grid enterprise, Honda has begun an initiative to utilise ‘Honda Cellular Energy Packe:’ as energy feeders, which can assist individuals in areas with unstable energy provide and off-grid areas in India, supplying energy to native shops and colleges, it added.
The corporate additional mentioned that with the introduction of the CB300F, it turned the primary motorbike producer to introduce a flex-fuel mannequin in India.
“Honda will supply merchandise appropriate for the vitality conditions of every area,” it famous.
