Honda 2Wheelers domestic sales jump 5% in Dec’20 (YoY)

Ending the unprecedented 2020 with positive bearings, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. today announced its December’20 sales.

Signalling to demand recovery continuing post the festival season, Honda’s two-wheeler YoY sales uptick continued for the 5^th consecutive month in December as well. Honda’s domestic sales grew 5% to 242,046 units in the year 2020’s last month compared to 230,197 units a year ago. With exports of 20,981 units, Honda’s total sales in December’20 closed at 263,027 units with a 3% growth over 255,283 units in Dec’19.

Noteworthy, that the third quarter of FY’2020-21 ushered in new hope and positivity. While the first quarter put business on pause mode, the second quarter was about stabilizing the ecosystem and meeting the pent-up demand. The October – December quarter stood out as the first Quarter of positive YoY sales for Honda. Honda’s Q3 domestic sales jumped 5% on YoY basis to 11,49,101 units in Q3, FY’21 from 10,91,299 units in the same period last year.

Elaborating on the mood of the market,Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, 

“After the positive retail and wholesale traction in December’20, we enter 2021 with a new hope. The 3rd quarter marked the first quarter of positive sales after a long time. The next 2 quarters too, are expected to show some growth due to the low base effect but real positive growth and market expansion may take some time. However, we are all geared up for 2021 – Honda’s momentous 20th Anniversary year in India. With multiple brand new and exciting offerings in the pipeline, Honda will delight riders across categories with new Joy of Riding.”

Honda’s Key Highlights of calendar year 2020:

12 New offerings in the Red Wing business (110cc up to 200cc segments)

·       1 Brand new Model: Honda entered in 180-200cc segment with Hornet 2.0 – the first digital launch of a new model in Indian two-wheeler industry. The machine, built with the powerful higher capacity HET BSVI Engine introduced riders to best-in-class features like Golden USD front forks among others.

·       BS-VI model lineup expansion: In 2020, Honda introduced 8 models to its formidable BS-VI lineup. Honda’s scooter leadership got a further push with the all new BS-VI Activa 6G, BS-VI Dio, Grazia 125 BS-VI. Parallely, Honda’s BS-VI motorcycle range beefed up with 5 new additions across 110cc (CD 110 Dream BS-VI, new Livo BS-VI), 125cc (new Shine BSVI), 160cc (new X-Blade BS-VI, new Unicorn BSVI) segments.

·       3 Limited editions: Celebrating 20 years of love, Honda introducedthe 20th Anniversary edition of Activa 6G. Further in Nov’20, came the Repsol Honda limited editions of Hornet 2.0 and Dio inspired by the iconic racing design cues of Repsol Honda team’s MotoGP bike RC 213V!

Honda’s Premium Motorcycle Business focus:

·       Honda roared into the mid-size motorcycle segment: Come September, Honda globally premiered its Make-in-India mid-size motorcycle – the H’ness -CB350. Crafted to excite the riders, H’ness CB 350 comes with first in segment features like Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC), Honda Smartphone Voice Control System (HSVCS), Assist and Slipper Clutch, Advanced digital analogue speedometer and full LED setup.

·       Honda’s 3 global legends came completely new from ground up: In March’20, Honda launched its first BS-VI compliant big bike, the all-new 2020 Africa Twin Adventure Sports with a bigger 1100cc engine. Following this, were the 2 brand-new variants CBR1000RR-R Fireblade and Fireblade SP in the 1000cc super sports category.

·       Exclusive Silver Wing network expansion: Reaching closer to its premium biking fans, Honda inaugurated 4 new BigWing Topline outlets in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kochi and Indore (in addition to Gurugram) for the sales and service of its entire premium motorcycle range spanning 300cc to 1800cc. Giving further spread to the Silver Wings, Honda also inaugurated 11 new Big Wing outlets to cater to mid-size motorcycle demand in key cities of Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Jabalpur, Bhilai, Raipur, Erode, Coimbatore & Trivandrum.

Strategic Leadership Change

·       Entering its 20th year of Indian operations, Honda 2Wheelers India further strengthened its Senior Leadership Team to strategically steward the brand towards market leadership in the disruptive future.  Starting 1st May 2020, Mr. Atsushi Ogata took on the new responsibility as the President, CEO & Managing Director of HMSI. Mr. Ogata is also an Operating Executive at Honda Motor Co., Japan. 

·       As part of this move, Mr. V Sridhar was further elevated as the Senior Director – Purchase, HMSI. Additionally, Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria and Mr. Vinay Dhingra joined the Board of Directors of HMSI.

Business & Sales Milestone

·       Honda commenced BS-VI exports to European market with the CKD kits of its next generation advanced 125 cc motorcycle – SP125.

·       Setting new benchmark in the 125cc motorcycle segment, Honda’s flagship Shine brand crossed 90 Lac+ cumulative customers mark in December’20.

·       Honda became the 1st auto company to use Hazira – Ghogha inland waterway in Gujarat. Utilizing this new and efficient logistics solution, Honda has reduced its transit time, distance and carbon emissions by 2 days, 465 kilometers and approx. 311 kg/trip respectively.

·       Strengthening contact-less engagement in new normal, Honda launched the all new digital, secure and convenient Online Booking platform on its official website in July’20. 

·       Backed by customer demand, Honda’s festival retails crossed the 1 million units mark yet again in the two crucial festival months (October & November).

·       Sales milestones across states: Celebrating the biggest vote of trust of customers, Honda’s cumulative sales crossed the momentous 25 lac customers’ milestone in the 2 southern states of Kerala & Telangana, and breached the 20 lac customers mark in Madhya Pradesh.

Corporate Social Responsibility

·       Honda India Foundation pledged Rs. 11 crore aid to fight the deadly impact of Covid-19. Honda also supplied 2,000 units of Honda engine powered High Pressure Backpack Sprayers to the various Government agencies and ensured availability of ambulances for medical emergencies and provided food packets for the underprivileged during the pandemic.

·       Proactively supporting Skill India Mission, Honda inaugurated 4 newSkill Enhancement Centers in Cuttack, Kanpur, Khargone & Prayagraj in 2020, taking the total count to 43 skill enhancement centers across 18 states.

Road Safety

·       Promoting road safety in the New Normal, Honda launched its digital road safety initiative ‘Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul’ in May’20. Since then, Honda has digitally sensitized over 2 lac individuals in more than 185 towns of India. Cumulatively, Honda has till date spread road safety awareness to more than 38 lac people of all age groups.

Motorsport

·       Global Racing DNA leadership: Honda marked another milestone in the history of global racing as the 1st motorcycle manufacturer to achieve 800 Grand Prix victories.

·       Domestic racing: The ENEOS Honda Erula Racing Team rounded-off 2020 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship – PS 165cc class with 10 podiums including 3 victories with Chennai’s Mathana Kumar securing the 3rd position. Exemplifying Honda’s racing DNA, young riders Sarthak Chavan & Shyam Sundar emerged champions in IDEMITSU Honda Racing India Talent Cup NSF250R & CBR150R categories respectively.

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