In the light of the floods in Thailand and the resulting suspension of production at its plant, Honda Motor Company Limited has decided to carry out critical exports to South American and South East Asian markets through its Indian subsidiary Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI). The shortage for the Honda parts and components of the City sedan in major car markets has compelled the company to take the step.
According to Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Sales at HSCI, Honda Siel is exporting the components manufactured at the company’s Tapukhara plant in Rajasthan for the production of the City sedan.
Honda has been facing production problems at its Thailand plant due to flooding since July 2011 and production was suspended in the month of October 2011. Honda in India is also facing production and assembly problems as the parts and components are sourced from the Thailand plant. Currently, the company in India is able to manufacture only the Accord sedan and the Civic sedan out the 5 car models manufactured in India.
According to Honda Siel, the company has pending orders of about 13,500 cars consisting of the City sedan, the Jazz and the Brio hatchback. However, it will be able to start production only by February 2012, says Mr. Sen. In the fiscal year 2010-11, the company has sold 32,771 units for the period of April to December 2011 as compared to 44,686 units sold in the same period in the 2009-10 fiscal.