The “go slow” by workers at Honda Motors & Scooters India (HMSI) should end
in a week, a company official said.
“Some part of the negotiations between us and the Haryana Labour Department has been completed and we are looking at a settlement within a week,” Naresh Rattan, operating head (sales and marketing), HMSI, told DNA Money.
Shinji Aoyama, chief operating officer and president, HMSI, said: “We are hopeful that we will soon find a solution to the situation and production will be back to normal.”
HMSI workers have been on “go slow” since August.
Rattan added that production, which before the strike was 4,200 units per day, will resume to a higher number of 4,600 units daily.
“For the booking levels to normalise, we will take another one-and-a-half months,” he added.
HMSI’s production has fallen almost 60% to 2,500 units a day. It recorded a loss of 1.4 lakh units during the “go slow” period. But the company is confident of meeting its annual production target. “With production returning to normal levels in 7 days, we will be on track with our annual target of 12.5 lakh units” Rattan said.
HMSI added another assembly line to its existing two lines on Tuesday, and from Wednesday, started a third shift as well.
The new line is initially expected to churn out300-400 vehicles a day, but would be gradually ramped up to 1,000 units a day, Aoyama said.
The company has a backlog of 1.4 lakh two-wheelers. Rattan said the company will return to its normal backlog of 30-40,000 vehicles within three months.
HMSI had stopped taking fresh bookings after the backlog build up, but will begin accepting orders next week. The company has witnessed 10% cancellations on booked orders and around 15% drop in new orders.
Speaking on the new product pipeline, Aoyama said entry into the 100 cc bike segment is on schedule and the bike would be showcased in the upcoming Auto Expo. Sister company Hero Honda is a clear leader in that segment.
Indicating that the bike would be positioned as a premium 100 cc product, Aoyama admitted that it wasn’t possible to avoid 100 per cent cannibalisation with Hero Honda products. “Together, the two Honda companies maybe will reach 70% share of the Indian market from 65 per cent now (after the 100 cc launch), who knows?”
Aoyama also indicated that HMSI is studying entry into the 250 cc bike segment, but has reached no decision on this matter.
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