Automotive
Why City & Amaze can no longer pull the cart for Honda?
02 Nov 2020
The comforting sales numbers in September should have put a
broad smile on Rajesh Goel’s face. But the senior vice-president and director,
marketing and sales at Honda Cars India, is cautiously optimistic even after
the 9.65% year-on-year growth. “Our focus is to not only push cars to dealers,
but also ensure that retail [sales] happen. So, we are closely monitoring both
dispatches and retails,” he says.
Perhaps, some hard numbers are playing in the minds of all
top officials of Honda Cars India.
The passenger-vehicle industry in India has seen a de-growth
of 34% in April- September of FY21. But for Honda, the cut has been deeper. The
company’s domestic sales have seen a decline of 59.15% in FY21 (till
September), and 44% in FY20. With a puny 2.83% market share, Honda has slipped
to the seventh position in the domestic passenger-vehicle sales pecking order
in FY21 (April-September) from the sixth rank in FY20. It was overtaken by Kia
Motors and Renault India. In the just-released October numbers, Honda posted
sales of 10,836 units, up 8.3% over the same month last fiscal.
The full article was originally published on ET Prime.