GURUGRAM:
Despite domestic two-wheeler industry slowdown since December 2018, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. has closed the challenging fiscal year 2018-19 with all time high export sales in a single year.
Led by strong overseas demand, Honda’s two-wheeler annual exports breached the significant 3.5 lac unit mark for the first time ever in 2018-19. Honda 2Wheeler India’s exports zoomed to 3,80,041 units in 2018-19 led by new model introduction in overseas markets.
However, on the domestic front, two-wheeler industry faced prolonged slowdown for fourth consecutive month – a trend last witnessed during demonetization in 2016-17. Based on demand slowdown, Honda pro-actively moderated its production and dispatch as domestic retail is still not showing any signs of recovery. With primary focus to bring down inventory levels of its business partners and support their liquidity in challenging times in last quarter, Honda closed its domestic sales at 55.20 lac units in FY-2018-19. Honda total two-wheeler sales closed at 59,00,840 units in FY’2018-19.
Commenting on Honda’s cautious outlook in prevailing market situation, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “The challenging and disruptive second half of 2018-19 has significantly wiped off the two-wheeler industry growth of first half. But despite domestic challenges, we have been able to create new highs in exports. Increased insurance premium in September’18 dampened the festival sentiments, and pre-festival stock buildup was converted into high inventories for the two-wheeler industry. Recognizing this situation early, we re-aligned our supply with domestic demand to correct inventories and support our business partners. However, the green shoots of demand pickup are not visible and we anticipate a tough quarter ahead, especially on account of the new price points of CBS/ABS introduction and the upcoming general elections.”
