Honda offers early retirement in India amid slowing motorcycle sales

[CHENNAI] Honda Motor is offering voluntary retirement to some permanent employees at its motorcycles and scooters unit in India amid slowing demand there following the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Wednesday.

Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI), the country's second-largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, said it planned to realign its production strategy to improve operational efficiency and ensure long term business sustainability.

"The Indian auto industry is going through an exceptionally challenging phase from the past three years considering the prolonged demand slowdown and overall economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic," the company said in a statement.

While automakers globally have been battered by the pandemic, companies in India have also been hit by slowing demand since 2019.

The move comes weeks after the Japanese automaker said it would shutter one of two car plants in India due to slowing demand.

HMSI made the scheme available to its employees' union through a letter dated Jan 5, which was reviewed and reported by Reuters earlier on Wednesday.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

The letter said the scheme was open to permanent employees who have completed 10 years of service or are over 40 as of Jan 31, 2021. Depending on the number of years of service, a senior manager or vice-president could be eligible for a payout of 7.2 million rupees (S$129,602), the letter showed.

While it was not immediately clear how many employees would qualify, the letter said the first 400 people to opt for retirement would get an additional 500,000 rupees.

HMSI had more than 7,000 employees across its four plants in India as of March 31, 2020, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Between April and November, the first eight months of the current fiscal year, HMSI's sales plummeted 32 per cent to 2.4 million units, with sales of motorcycles and scooters falling 25 per cent, industry data showed.

The automaker has capacity to manufacture 6.4 million motorcycles and scooters a year in India, according to its website.

The company continues to see a strong potential to develop India as Honda's global export hub in the mid-term and its investment plans for future products and technology remain unchanged, it said.

REUTERS