After resuming operations in a staggered manner, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Saturday announced that production has recommenced at its plants in Manesar (Haryana), Tapukara (Rajasthan) and Vithalapur (Gujarat).
The company has also announced support for its authorised dealers who were under complete lockdown. Under the special initiative, the company would bear full interest cost of dealers’ inventory under complete lockdown for 30 days or more.
MD, president & CEO Atsushi Ogata said, “We are gradually resuming production operations following all Covid-19 compliance and lockdown guidelines by respective state governments. While there are visible signs of recovery in the country, we will continue to monitor the situation very closely and are moving forward with safety and well-being of all our stakeholders as a top priority.”
Elaborating on how HMSI is prioritising business continuity with its dealer partners in these challenging times, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, director, sales & marketing, of the company, said, “In these difficult times, HMSI is proactively extending financial support to its dealers. We are confident that full interest support on the existing dealer inventory of those dealers who are under lockdown for 30 days or more will ease their immediate business continuity concern.”
Guleria said there was a positive momentum visible in Covid-19 vaccination drive along with various other measures taken by the central and state governments. However, HMSI is moving forward with a calibrated approach across its entire ecosystem, ensuring synergy for stable and efficient operations.
“We expect easing of restrictions by various local administrations and state governments in near future and are accordingly moving forward cautiously in a step-wise manner to serve our customers,” he said.
HMSI had also announced extension of warranty and free vehicle service benefits till July 31, 2021, across all its dealership networks pan-India. This extension will be applicable for all customers, whose vehicle’s free service, warranty and extended warranty were originally ending between April 1 and May 31, 2021, said a company statement. HMSI office associates continue to work from home to maintain business continuity while extending all possible support to customers and business partners.
In view of the severe situation on account of the second Covid wave and subsequent multiple lockdowns across various cities in the country, HMSI had announced a temporary halt of its production operations across all four plants, effective from May 1, 2021 till May 15. The company had said it would utilise this temporary production halt for advancing its annual plant maintenance activities and said depending upon the evolving Covid situation and the market recovery, HMSI would be reviewing its production plan in the subsequent months.
