Honda plans to set up another 1,000 outlets in India in next three years

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is planning to expand its presence in the country further by adding another one thousand outlets across India in the next three years. One of India's biggest two-wheeler manufacturer has announced this plan to cater to rising demand from rural India, including smaller towns.

Honda 2Wheelers currently has about 6,000 outlets across India, which include dealers, sales and service points. The company launched its latest model CB200X ADV launched in India at ₹1.44 lakh on Thursday.

Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President and CEO at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, said, "India is very huge and although we have enough dealer network in the country, demand is increasing, especially from rural areas and Tier II and tier III towns...so within three years, we will be adding about 1,000 customer touchpoints taking the total figure to around 7,000."

YS Guleria, Director (Sales and Marketing) at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, said, “Compared to the same period of April-July last year we are witnessing more than 50 per cent increase in our enquiries. Also, with 98 per cent of our sales network operational now, we are open to doing business."

According to Guleria, Honda 2Wheelers is also witnessing a rise in retail sales. "Retail sales are 30 per cent up as compared with the similar period of last year. Since we are preparing for the festive period, we hope that there is no further wave coming in," he said.

Like all the other vehicle manufacturers, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India is not immune to the ongoing global chip shortage crisis. However, the two-wheeler manufacturer has planned accordingly to address the issue, especially ahead of the festive season when manufacturers expect sales to be at its highest.

"Festive season is an important time, so we are trying to communicate with some specific suppliers to avoid the impact on our sales. Similarly, we are also communicating with our customers to avoid any negative impact due to the situation," Ogata said. The manufacturer has also taken price hikes to offset the impact of the increase in raw material cost. It plans to reduce the burden of additional price for customers by as much as possible before the festive season.

Guleria also said that the scooter segment has suffered due to prolonged lockdowns in the urban areas. However, now with the easing of restrictions, demand is expected to recover. “Moving forward with educational institutions expected to open up, we are confident that scooter demand would start coming in and the segment would have a fair share of contribution to the two-wheeler industry, which used to be 30 per cent or so."

"The scooter contribution in the two-wheeler sales in the last 3-4 years has been around 30 per cent and despite many challenges in the market, including the Covid-19 waves, scooters have been able to hold on to this kind of contribution," he added.