Honda Cars India reports 3% dip in January sales amid Covid third wave

Honda Cars India on Tuesday reported a 3 per cent dip in its total sales at 12,149 units in January. The company sold a total of 12,552 units in the corresponding month a year ago. The automaker's domestic sales stood at 10,427 units last month as compared to 11,319 units in January of 2021.

Honda Cars India's exports last month stood at 1,722 units as against 1,233 units in the year-ago month, the company said in a statement. "The sales in the month of January'22 got partially impacted owing to the weekend-lockdowns in some cities but overall the situation looks positive and steady," Honda Cars India Director - Marketing and Sales, Yuichi Murata, noted.

The company, however, hopes that the year 2022 will turn out positive. “Despite the supply chain and Covid-related challenges, we have started off 2022 on a promising note," Murata added. He also highlighted that all of the company's production output has been getting dispatched to dealers on time. "The market situation will improve with the reduction in the Covid-caseload as we move forward," he said.

Last month, the company offered heavy discounts across its lineup of products as a New Year offer to boost sales for the month. The offer was rolled out amid Honda's price hike across models at the start of the year which has increased the price of its models by up to ₹7,000.

Maruti and Tata Motors announced similar price hikes last month, blaming the rising input and operational costs for the decisions. And with the chip shortage most likely to prevail across the globe in the foreseeable future, challenges remain for the industry at large.