Honda Cars India Limited has announced that the brand has registered monthly domestic sales of 8,638 units in December 2020, post-festive season as against 8,412 units in the same month last year (2019). The brand has maintained its sales momentum even after the festive season where the brand recorded sales of 9,990 units in the domestic market against 6,459 units sales posted in the same month last year, registering a growth of 55%. In December 2020 the brand also exported a total of 713 units. The Japanese carmaker had only exported 31 units in November 2020.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the brand is positive about growth in the coming months. But recently, the brand revealed that it will be shutting down the Greater Noida production facility and shifting production operation to Tapukara manufacturing plant. The Greater Noida plant used to produce the Honda Amaze, Honda City, Honda Civic and the Honda CR-V. The production of the Honda Amaze and City is likely to be shifted to Tapukara but reports suggest that the Tapukara production line will not be able to accommodate the Civic and the CR-V which could mean that the brand will discontinue both the models in the Indian market.
It is also speculated that if the brand retools the Tapukara plant to accommodate the Honda Civic and Honda CR-V the end-user cost could be too high to make the vehicles affordable in the Indian market. But the brand has confirmed that customers of both the Honda Civic and the Honda CR-V need not worry about spares and service as the company will be providing all services and spare parts for the next 15 years.
Also, the Greater Noida plant will house the company’s R&D department, its Corporate operation office and Spare part operations department including the warehousing for Automobile, two-wheeler and power products business. The Tapukara production line has an installed production capacity of 180,000 units per annum as opposed to the 100,000 units annual capacity at the Greater Noida plant.
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