The 2nd wave of COVID-19 in India is getting worse as days pass on with major disruptions to the supply chain of oxygen cylinders and other important medical equipment. Honda 2Wheelers after analysing the entire situation decided to stop production at all its 4 manufacturing facilities. These are located in Manesar in Haryana, Narsapura in Karnataka, Tapukara in Rajasthan and Vithalapur in Gujarat. Honda 2Wheelers mentioned that all these manufacturing facilities will remain temporarily shut down. This shutdown planned from 1st May to 15th May will help Honda to advance the maintenance work of the plants. In order to fight the spread of COVID-19, Honda 2Wheeler has also launched a new campaign named ActivIndia.
This decision is in tune with other major automotive companies in the country. Recently, Toyota, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp also made similar announcements declaring temporary shutdowns of their plants. Honda 2Wheelers will advise all its employees to work from home to help break the chain. Only a few essential staff will work in the plants following all the COVID-19 guidelines. The Japanese motorcycle maker ensured that the customers will face no issues for the given time period. Currently, Honda 2Wheelers India exports to South-East Asia, South America, and SAARC countries taking the total count to 35 markets. This is also evident from the fact that the export figure registered a growth of 16 per cent.
In order to make India a global export hub, the brand introduced a new Overseas Business expansion. This is in line with the ‘Making in India for the World’ initiative. Given the success of Honda 2Wheelers in the country, the brand now wants to replicate the same in other countries. This new Overseas Business Expansion vertical comes up at Honda’s Manesar manufacturing facility. This will integrate the sales, engineering, development and quality function all under one roof. This new reconstruction of the company will help to generate more sales both in the domestic and international market.