India’s most trusted two-wheeler brand Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI) was recently presented with coveted GreenCo Star Performer Award at the 8th edition of CII GreenCo Summit. Honda’s
Companies May Lower Tags, Offer More Discounts To Offset Impact The hike in petrol, diesel prices will fuel a slowdown in the auto industry in the short-term, feel car majors like Maruti, Hyundai and Honda. And, it may spell good news for consumers in terms of lower prices and greater discounts from car makers, who will try to offset the negative impact on the industry, which is already hit by higher interest rates and tighter retail financing.
When CEO Takeo Fukui says he would spend $ 10 billion to rack up a Formula One victory for Honda, you get the sense that he really means it. Under Fukui's five-year leadership, Honda Motor's car sales have jumped by a third and profits by an even bigger margin to a record $5.8 billion last year. But it's the lack of an Fl win that sticks in the craw of the 63-year-old former engineer, who joined Honda precisely because it was the first Japanese automaker to enter the world's premier motor sport. Fukui just doesn't like to lose.
When CEO Takeo Fukui says he would spend $10 billion to rack up a Formula One victory for Honda, you get the sense that he really means it. Under Fukui's five-year leadership, Honda Motor's car sales have jumped by a third and profits by an even bigger margin to a record $5.8 billion last year. But it's the lack of an F1 win that sticks in the craw of the 63-year-old former engineer, who joined Honda precisely because it was the first Japanese automaker to enter the world's premier motor sport. Fukui just doesn't like to lose.
Honda will sell a new, improved and affordable gas-electric hybrid in the U.S., Japan and Europe starting in early 2009, the company president said Wednesday. President Takeo Fukui told reporters that green cars, especially hybrids, will be a pillar of Honda Motor Co's strategy for the next three years, starting this fiscal year that began April 1.
Two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, Japan, plans to launch a new motorcycle during the first half of FY09. The new motorcycle would be launched to suit the conditions in cities, N K Rattan, divisional head, HMSI, said while unveiling its new scooter Aviator. He declined to elaborate on the new model. During 2007-08, the launch of revamped versions of Shine and Unicorn boosted motorcycle sales. HMSI is targeting sales volumes of 8.8 lakh units. Of this, motorcycles will account for about 2.7 lakh units while the scooter segment will contribute the rest. The company sold 7.15 lakh units in 2006-07. Rattan said access to credit was not difficult for HMSI customers. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Centurion Bank, Cholamandalam and SBI were willing to provide credit for purchasing HMSI vehicles, he added. He said 2008-09 would be a significant year for HMSI as the company would target to sell 10 lakh units during the year. With the launch of Aviator, the company hopes to strengthen its leadership position in the automatic scooter segment. The model, expected to sell 1 lakh units during FY09, could take the total sales volumes of HMSI's scooter segment to 7 lakh units by the end of March 2009. He said the automatic scooter segment was the second largest after the motorcycle segment in the two-wheeler industry, which is expected to reach 82 lakh units by March-end. The automatic scooter segment has grown from 3 per cent in 1998 to 13 per cent in 2007. HMSI was the market leader in India with 54 per cent share in the automatic scooter segment, which was expected to reach 16 lakh units by 2010-11 from 10 lakh units on the back of changing customer preferences, Rattan said.
Japan's top three carmakers produced a record number of vehicles globally last month, highlighting the resilience of the Japanese car industry in the face of a higher yen, soaring oil prices and slowing economic activity in key markets. Toyota said January production for the group, which includes Daihatsu, the mini-vehicle maker, and Hino, the truckmaker, rose 8.2 per cent to a record 801,873. Japan's largest vehicle maker is experiencing strong demand in emerging markets, such as China, India and Russia, which has more than offset slight weaknesses in the US and Europe.
Toyota Motor Corp will buy hybrid-car batteries from Sanyo Electric Co, a source familiar with the matter said, as the automaker struggles to meet growing demand for the fuel-sipping vehicles due to a shortage of battery supply.
Honda Motor Co will maintain the target for lease sales of its newest fuel-cell car after over a year since its launch despite the challenge of boosting productivity, the model's chief engineer said.
Mar 1 February, which is generally a lean month for car manufacturers as prospective buyers tend to postpone their purchase in anticipation of excise duty cuts in the Budget, saw market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) register flat sales in the domestic market at 59,311 units as compared to 59,095 units in February last year. Two-wheelers continued their year-long trend of decline in sales with major Companies witnessing a single digit negative growth. Analysts however, predict that sales will revive with a reduction in excise duty, both on smaller cars and two-wheelers, from 16% to 12% and simultaneous reduction in prices by various manufacturers with effect from March 1. While leading car manufacturers like MSIL, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Tata Motors and General Motors reduced prices between Rs 7,000 and Rs 20,000 depending on the models, two-wheeler major Hero Honda, TVS Motor and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd have also announced reduction in prices by Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500. During February 2008, General Motor India witnessed a growth of 80% at 5,563 units as against 3,087 units during the same period last year. Sales of premium car manufacturer Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) also grew 7.2% to 3,774 units during this period as compared to 3,521 units in February last year. Even Skoda India witnessed a growth of 102% at 1,303 units as against 644 units in February 2007. This is in contrast to the two-wheeler industry that has once again failed to recover from the woes of high interest rate and liquidity crunch. Sales of Hero Honda declined 5.37% to 2,65,431 units in February 2008 as compared to 2,80,515 units during the same month last year and that of Bajaj Auto dipped by 8.4% to 1,59,508 units as against 1,74,220 units in February 2007. The entry-level 100 cc segment has been badly hit after high delinquency forced major banks to withdraw finance availability in certain clusters across the country. According to industry estimates, the segment witnessed a decline of about 13%, which had offset stable sales in the 125 cc segment and above, resulting in an overall dip of 10% in the motorcycle industry. No wonder, players are now shifting focus to executive and premium bikes as the segment is comparatively less price sensitive and is giving higher margins to all manufacturers.
