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Old 13th February 2022, 15:54   #796
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

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Originally Posted by Torque_Curve View Post
Was Ram87Pune's post on Honda apparently planning to sell their Tapukara plant taken down? Can't seem to find it anymore.
Any updates on the same mods?

Note from Moderator

This was removed as this was a speculative post. There are no other events that even add to the speculation. Honda have scaled down volumes and capacity but the Amaze and City produce decent volumes.

As for Ford - the writing was clearly on the wall - diminishing sales volumes, cancelled facelift's, aborted JV's.

Of course, I might be totally wrong but unless there is proof or facts, we need to be more responsible on what is posted.

Last edited by GTO : 13th February 2022 at 16:40. Reason: Last line
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Old 13th February 2022, 16:39   #797
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Guys, Honda just had 10,000 dispatches last month and their 2021 average (lockdown aside) was about ~9000 / month, I reckon.

Do I personally think Honda will exit India? No. But are they performing to the top of their potential? No way. As an example, I still don't see a competent 15 - 20 lakh crossover from them, despite that segment being huge on volumes as well as profits (Creta, Seltos, Harrier, XUV700) since a decade. Shows their eye isn't on the ball & an absolute lack of aggression. Their boring product line-up has loads of room for improvement.

IMHO, Honda India might shrink their portfolio and cost structure to become a smaller & leaner company. More focus on profitability, basically. But I don't think the brand will exit India.

Let's not unnecessarily speculate unless we have some solid basis to believe so.

Of course, I could be wrong. Chevrolet's exit shocked all of us, as did Ford's (but to a lesser extent). No one knew those either. I hope I'm right and the brand sticks around in India in the longer term as more competition - end of the day - makes things better for us, the customer. If I'm wrong, I will be very, very disappointed.

No doubt there's a lot going on at Honda. They shut down the Noida factory, lots of senior execs have left (here and here), and India is not an easy market, especially for those players who are used to the 1990s style of working when they used to be kings (Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, VW).

Last edited by GTO : 13th February 2022 at 16:43.
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Old 13th February 2022, 16:49   #798
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Speculative posts should be avoided. But if the direction of company and facts also add up there are reasons for concern. Closing the plants and no new launches itself are major red flags. Also if news is from reliable sources, such posts can forewarn gullible customers. It is not that one day the company will pack its bag and leave.
There were posts in the Ford thread, when customers took delivery of the car on the day the news broke. So we don't need to be lenient on such companies.

PS: I registered for a Honda city test drive one week back. Received a call back from customer support in an hour, told the nearest dealer will get in touch with me. It is now 7 days, no call from any dealer. Sign of the times..?

Last edited by poloman : 13th February 2022 at 16:51.
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Old 13th February 2022, 16:50   #799
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Honda seems to have made an official statement to powerdrift denying this

Honda India : The Way Forward-screenshot_20220213164536.png

But like GTO said you never know sometimes till it happens!
Companies have made similar statements before and packed their bags within months.

Seriously hope Honda stay around though!
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Old 13th February 2022, 17:30   #800
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

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Originally Posted by Shreyas_H View Post
Honda seems to have made an official statement to powerdrift denying this.

But like GTO said you never know sometimes till it happens!
If Honda can issue a statement denying this speculation, they must bring their international models to India. What makes them not get them here? If Toyota can sell it's Fortuner, why did Honda fail in selling the CRV? Honda should introspect more than issuing statements like this. Why can't they bring the new Brio to India or HRV and likes?

Honda India has lost its ploy in India. All talk, no work.
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Old 13th February 2022, 17:50   #801
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Interesting day today - by around 8-00 AM in the morning someone forwarded the note (which has now been removed) on the Honda City WA Group that I am part of. There were mixed opinions on it. Good that Honda has responded and kind of made a statement that they are not exiting.

By around 2-30 PM I also received this forward as a statement from HCIL:
Honda India : The Way Forward-hcil.png

Hope they manage to refresh the portfolio soon.
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Old 13th February 2022, 19:00   #802
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Quote:
Originally Posted by vsrivatsa View Post
Interesting day today - by around 8-00 AM in the morning someone forwarded the note (which has now been removed) on the Honda City WA Group that I am part of. There were mixed opinions on it. Good that Honda has responded and kind of made a statement that they are not exiting.

By around 2-30 PM I also received this forward as a statement from HCIL:
Attachment 2272184

Hope they manage to refresh the portfolio soon.
Sorry for a bit off topic post but what kind of designation is Dealer Owner "San" ? It is the Japanese "san" suffix that I am thinking about or something else?
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Old 13th February 2022, 19:11   #803
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

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Originally Posted by Black_Star View Post
Sorry for a bit off topic post but what kind of designation is Dealer Owner "San" ? It is the Japanese "san" suffix that I am thinking about or something else?
I would imagine it to be so. We deal with Casio and they refer to their colleagues the same way as well.
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Old 13th February 2022, 19:13   #804
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Dear Honda,

I know you are reading this. Your damage control efforts are futile. Your denials are empty statements which carry next to no weight with most of the members here. You may have gotten the whistle-blowing post removed but your actions in the past 2 years have indicated that every bit of the removed post was true. Like they say, actions speak louder than words. So instead of frantically trying to give chimeric hopes to present and future owners alike about your continued presence in the Indian market, put some money where your mouth is and launch some of those fresh new products which you sell in ASEAN countries (the whole of which is still a lot smaller market than India and not growing nearly as rapidly) and which are very relevant to India right now. I hope you don't sue me for holding a mirror.

Yours Sincerely,

A long time Honda admirer and owner.
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Old 13th February 2022, 19:26   #805
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

I wasn’t much bothered with speculations all this while but now seeing official statement am worried. Didn’t ford too release such statements after people speculated of their exit when their plant was being rented out? Rest is history

Unless honda launches a new car(not iterations of City), the sword keeps hanging. Yeah I have a 2.5 year old honda and want to hold on to it at least for another 8-9 years
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Old 13th February 2022, 20:03   #806
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

From my experience of working with the Japanese, it is highly unlikely for them to do an immediate surprise exit after they made that clarification. In business, they usually stick to what they say. Moreover there is a political angle as well for the presence of many Japanese companies in India.
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Old 13th February 2022, 21:22   #807
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Most people aren’t fooled by Honda’s honeyed words. The writing’s on the wall if Honda doesn’t pull up its socks with respect to updating its portfolio and services, and properly at that. Honda, if you’re stalking this forum, know that putting your money where your mouth’s at is the best thing to do.
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Old 13th February 2022, 21:39   #808
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

To me, this denial from Honda official sources is enough to believe that they will be here for some more years. A feature of Chevrolet's and Ford's exit was the silence from top management when the rumors started coming in. All that was coming in were counter rumors of investment and no specific official denial. This is unlike that. Honda has quickly gone into damage control mode and that means there are still serious about India.
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Old 13th February 2022, 22:05   #809
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

Dear Honda, I feel you need these two :
1. HRV - creta segment and you will easily manage 5k per month. But it might eat away city, hope that is not the reason they have been avoiding this
2. City Hybrid - Slavia will anyway be overpriced and you can slot hybrid which might also attract some customers interested in fuel economy. But it might kill their diesel range though.
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Old 13th February 2022, 23:22   #810
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Re: Honda India : The Way Forward

First and foremost, I see some serious damage control being done by Honda. I would say thats overreaction especially based on some talk in the forum. With all due respect to the poster, what any Tom Dick and Harry says in an online forum need not require so much of reaction and in a harsh manner. Honda mentioning TBHP specifically shows how much they have been rattled which otherwise could have just written a message about their commitment and future plans. Here, all they have done is a strong threat and nothing which inspires confidence. Look at how Skoda and VW marketed their India 2.0 plan. So much of teasers, new product showcases and offering test drives of camouflaged cars just to keep the talk going on. Here, Honda has two decently selling models and just no talk about what the future holds.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoumenD View Post
Didn’t ford too release such statements after people speculated of their exit when their plant was being rented out? Rest is history

Unless honda launches a new car(not iterations of City), the sword keeps hanging.
On the other hand, I have personally felt that the corporate culture of Ford(USA) and Honda(Japan) are as apart as their geography. No offense to anyone related, but the American corporate culture comes with a lot of painting rosy pictures, trying to be in denial until the last moment, having a fake smile on the face even if the rest is burning and what not. Hence it was quite natural that Ford until their final exit kept things under the wrap at least to the outside world. Does it mean they never planned it much earlier? But perhaps the Japs are a little different. When they have a strong brand recognition, I am sure that their will keep the Honda Cars brand alive at least, maybe not too much of a product portfolio.

To keep it in short, I would have expected a better response from Honda instead of what I would call a run of the mill threat.

Last edited by audioholic : 13th February 2022 at 23:26.
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