[Venkatesh]

Rajesh Goel, senior vice president and director, Sales and Marketing, Honda has resigned from his position "citing personal reasons". As per the company, 24th December will be his last woking day.

Yuichi Murata will take charge as Director, Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd.



This development comes just a year after the shutting down of Honda Cars India Greater Noida plant.

Source

[Nithesh_M]

That Nissan India death watch thread should be renamed to Honda India death watch. Feels like HCIL is on its way out too going by their lack of urgency in updating existing models or bringing in new models.

[shibulijack]

Good riddance or doomsday approaching Honda India? I hope it’s the former. It would be so unfortunate if Honda follows Ford’s footsteps.

[saisree]

Hope this not ringing the death bells to Honda India. Wishing Good Luck for the new Head. Hope Honda India charts back to its premium position in the market. Not in price though!!

[Mafia]

It will be hugely embarrassing for Honda.

We cant forget that they are the among biggest 2-wheeler manufacturer in the country. It will not be a clean shut and run like the American manufacturers. The can and will be held liable as they will be here in India in a different business vertical.

They may let the car manufacturing slowly fade.

[Swarup5]

Speculation is quite natural, but we don't realize it would have a ripple effect on the fate of companies. Certainly, the companies need to be more transparent in such moves and need to prove the speculations wrong.

But we as a community of responsible enthusiasts should stop speculating,

- This leads to a further decline in sales for the manufacturer due to doubts created in the minds of potential buyers.
- With continuously reducing sale numbers, it will only lead the management to take the decision eventually.

On the positive side,

- We might have some fresh thinking from the top. Honda has been lacking the market connection for quite some time.
- Organization re-org is always healthy for any organization which intends to evolve. This also means Honda is thinking of giving the new CEO a shot and seeing if things get better.
- Remember Tata story of a turnaround once Mr Chandra took over and the rest now is a history in the making.


Peace!

PS: We have at some point or the other seen and experienced Honda in our lives and know how good they are . Let's just hope and wish they recover soon and for good.

[nTorq]

Five years from now, I think the Indian mass-car market will be left with Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Tata and Mahindra. Sad, but inevitable.

Honda possibly exiting India in the near future was one of the key factors playing in my mind when I got my Honda City 5th Gen 3 months ago. However, I decided to take the risk. But not many would have done so. I think Honda can improve their sales by at least 20%, by simply instilling confidence in the Indian buyer that they’re here to stay. Alas, such changes at the top only make things worse for Honda even if they were meant to be positive.

Mod Note : Please do NOT use acronyms (e.g. ANHC, MS, T-Fort, ANHV, JC, Endy) when referring to cars or their makers. You are ONLY permitted to use the full Make & Model name. This will make our content useful, searchable & easy-to-understand for experts & newbies alike.

Thanks for the support & understanding

[docted]

From a friend who does outdoor promotion event for Honda, apparently there is some traction and movement at honda. And they are looking to turn things around with newer model and product, including EV.
No other details available.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Mafia

We cant forget that they are the among biggest 2-wheeler manufacturer in the country. It will not be a clean shut and run like the American manufacturers. The can and will be held liable as they will be here in India in a different business vertical.

AFAIK Honda Cars India and HMSI are two different legal entities just like two siblings. One cannot be held accountable for the (mis)adventures of the other.

This is not an issue however because IMHO, both might shut shop in the near future.
HMSI will be killed by the upcoming e-scooter revolution. In fact, I'd put my money on HCI - the carmaker still has a better chance for revival.

[Mafia]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

HMSI will be killed by the upcoming e-scooter revolution. In fact, I'd put my money on HCI - the carmaker still has a better chance for revival.

Honda is launching the Activa EV in 2022. with its reach, Honda should be able to manage and thrive the transition to EV's.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

HMSI will be killed by the upcoming e-scooter revolution. In fact, I'd put my money on HCI - the carmaker still has a better chance for revival.

I think this is being too optimistic on the various EV offerings that are currently present and would be coming up. And this would be off topic but just in brief, none of the EV brands today have the sort of infrastructure, reach, recognition and track record that HMSI has. It just needs them one e-Activa to eat up most of the fly by night EV manufacturers(excluding Ather etc since they are much well prepared) and this if equipped with good tech like Ather, it would also be tough on them as well. It is only the educated crowd that can understand the difference between a ground up E scooter like Ather and a Chinese kit thats assembled by a random brand. The rest of crowd who blindly went in for the latter over the past years have burnt their hands due to poor quality of these scooters and almost nil after sales/spare support. Hence, HMSI being the market leader would be impacted much late and they have enough time to bring in their electric range, which would bring back their steam.

Coming back to the topic ie HCI, its a different ballgame. Neither are they the market leaders, nor do they have a huge product portfolio(forget electric). Hence survival is a tough path compared to HMSI. So between the two, I would still place my bets on HMSI. Honda cars need more products, more EVs/Hybrids, better volumes and what not. Hope the change in management would also show up in these aspects as early as possible. But even their global portfolio doesnt look very shining either. Hence, it needs quite some effort to survive.

[libranof1987]

Extreme OT

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

This is not an issue however because IMHO, both might shut shop in the near future.
HMSI will be killed by the upcoming e-scooter revolution. In fact, I'd put my money on HCI - the carmaker still has a better chance for revival.

Hero sold 4.3 lakh 2W in July '21, Honda sold 3.4 lakhs. The next two are 1.75 and 1.5 lakhs, and following that is 60k. Do you really think Honda will shut shop in the near future?!

Most of non-metro India struggles with 24*7 electricity, heck, non-city centre areas of a metro often struggle too. What EV revolution are we talking about?!

EV scooters will work beautifully in an urban household with one or more 4W where the scooter is used to bring eggs and bread or for nearby chores. 2W are the backbone of the middle class / blue collar population that depend on it for their profession. It is no wonder that a 70 kmpl Splendor / Activa sell in lakhs. EVs, at their current pricepoint and range, are beyond a luxury for them.

Also, which manufacturer is going to be able to scale up manufacturing and sales in other to threaten Hero / Honda. Let's be realistic.

[sandeepmdas]

First of all, apologies for taking this discussion extreme OT.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Extreme OT
Hero sold 4.3 lakh 2W in July '21, Honda sold 3.4 lakhs. The next two are 1.75 and 1.5 lakhs, and following that is 60k. Do you really think Honda will shut shop in the near future?!

Yes, I very much believe
a.EV scooter revolution will take place and b. Honda will not survive. I never mentioned Hero - I don't think Hero too will go kaput; in fact I think Hero will survive and even thrive. Because it's not an absolute market leader.

I am not talking about a consumer-driven EV revolution but a govt-driven (forced) revolution. It has already started:

November 30:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/87991753.cms

November 27:
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...743209775.html
All other maladies mentioned by you (realistic, of course) has 2 counterpoints: a $42 billion per month fuel import bill and pollution in these very same metros.

Now imagine the government/SC is enforcing a strict regulation against all ICE vehicle road-usage except public transport and freight; millions of Honda scooters will be dumped in the used 2-wheeler market. Glut!

Originally Posted by Mafia

Honda is launching the Activa EV in 2022. with its reach, Honda should be able to manage and thrive the transition to EV's.

The Activa is enormously successful, just like the Maruti Swift. The Swift was India's third hot hatch launch - behind the Palio and Getz. But it was the first hot-selling hot hatch. It's weekly sales exceeded the annual sales of the other two.

Now in 2021, if you are in the market for hot hatch, chances are you won't consider Suzuki at all. Even if you do, you'll be looking at the Baleno/Ignis and most unlikely, the Swift. It is the victim of the revolution it has started.

Nokia and Kodak never delivered. Novell Netware, which enjoyed 91% or so market share in 1991 in LAN OS required only 15-18 months to convert their entire OS into GUI and enable TCP/IP to counter WinNT. Never arrived.

Originally Posted by audioholic

So between the two, I would still place my bets on HMSI. Honda cars need more products, more EVs/Hybrids, better volumes and what not. Hope the change in management would also show up in these aspects as early as possible. But even their global portfolio doesnt look very shining either. Hence, it needs quite some effort to survive.

As I said above, HMSI is enormously successful, unlike HCI. Its future totally depends on govt regulations. It has the capacity to make half-a-million scooters and people are willing to buy em all. But what if the govt/SC says "not anymore, thanks"? Our babus/netas never say sorry.

HMSI is so big and it has so much to lose, its that much vulnerable. If the Titanic was a cargo ship, only 50 or so sailors would have been died...

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Yes, I very much believe a EV scooter revolution will take place and b. Honda will not survive. I never mentioned Hero - I don't think Hero too will go kaput

So Hero will survive but not Honda? How's that?

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Now imagine the government/SC is enforcing a strict regulation against all ICE vehicle road-usage except public transport and freight; millions of Honda scooters will be dumped in the used 2-wheeler market. Glut!

So Govt will ask people to dump millions of Honda Scooters but garland millions of Hero Motorcycles? Wonderful logic!

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

The Activa is enormously successful, just like the Maruti Swift.

Activa is enormously successful but Splendor is a big failure?

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

As I said above, HMSI is enormously successful, unlike HCI. Its future totally depends on govt regulations.

HMSI is successfull but Hero is a failure? Honda's future depends on Govt regulations but not Hero's future?

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

HMSI is so big and it has so much to lose, its that much vulnerable.

HMSI is very big but Hero is very small? HMSI is vulnerable and has much to lose but Hero is invulnerable and nothing to lose?

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

So Hero will survive but not Honda? How's that?

Dear friend, I never mentioned Hero in my original post. I said Hero will change to escooters more easily than honda because it's a small company compared to the Japanese giant.

Giant animals (and companies) will not survive changing times.

Apple did successfully (from Mac to iDevices) because it had extraordinary leadership during the early 2000s.

Splendor, garland etc are never mentioned in my posts as you can see. As a TBHPian I too love Honda and all other auto companies and I wish them every success. You may want to consider my posts as doomsday prediction or just stupidity. I have no further interest in talking OT since I am the one who started it and the mods will (rightly) hold me responsible. Thanks.