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Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) has been streamlining its operations in the country since January 2020, which is when it announced its first VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) exercise in the run up to ceasing production at the Greater Noida plant. The Japanese carmaker recently carried out its third VRS exercise in September 2021, which saw nearly 100 executives above the assistant manager level opting for it.
- Honda Cars India carried out its third VRS exercise in two years
- Nearly 100 executives above assistant manager level have opted for it
- Company says it's reconstituting operations to come to a profitable level
Honda India carries out its third VRS exercise
According to our sister publication, Autocar Professional, the VRS largely focused on senior management personnel across key operations such as purchasing, quality development, manufacturing and marketing. While confirming the September VRS, a spokesperson told Autocar Professional that HCIL is in the process of reconstituting operations to a profitable level. Following the first VRS exercise in January 2020, the second round came in July last year as the company was prepping to shut operations at the Greater Noida plant.
Sources say nearly 1,500 employees, including over 950 manufacturing associates, exited the company with hefty compensations. It is estimated that close to 500 employees have left the company over the last year since the closure of operations at Greater Noida was announced.
HCIL now only operates out of its Tapukara facility in Rajasthan, which is home to the City, Amaze, Jazz and the WR-V.
Key executives on the move
News of the VRS also comes at a time when the company has seen a high-profile exit in Rajesh Goel, senior VP and director, marketing and sales, who stepped down after a 25-year tenure. He had been with HCIL since the time of its inception and indicated that he was quitting for personal reasons.
Apart from Goel, other prominent exits include Navneet Kaur, head of brand and marketing communications, who joined Citroen India in October as the head of marketing and PR. Vineet Mishra, assistant general manager, purchasing operations, moved over to Suzuki Motorcycle India in the AVP role. Both Kaur and Mishra worked in HCIL for nearly two decades.
The industry grapevine is abuzz that more and more employees are looking for new opportunities with brands like Ola Electric, Citroen India and MG Motor India, who are believed to be among the top recruiters. It is likely that the exits of top names may have rattled the remaining workforce but that should not necessarily mean that HCIL is contemplating something drastic on the lines of Ford or General Motors.
Upcoming Honda launches in India
The brand maintains that there is a definite product pipeline for the future, including a new SUV based on the City platform that will hit the market by 2023. Honda is also gearing up for the launch of the City Hybrid in India by early 2022.
What are your thoughts on Honda streamlining operations in India? Let us know in the comments below.
Also See:
Next-gen Honda Civic sedan revealed
Honda to phase out combustion engines globally by 2040
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Vijai Dogra - 1028 days ago
Honda is self destroying it's prowess to offer quality its high tech and much superior products in india by its current policies of not launching such products timely. This limitation of hondas is taken advantage by other companies such as Suzuki, Hyundai etc. by offering inferior products and also able to sell the same as there is no product presented timely by Honda so that customers could have choice. Where Honda has products like honda city, amaze etc. they are able to beat the other Auto Companies by big margine. So please review your India Specific stretegy according. Lauch Honda City immd hybrid and hrv hybrid without any further delay so that others could not take advantage. Also start road shows pan India for popularising such products. I remember, Suzuki held such road shows pn india way back in 1983 with maruti 800, van 800 and gypsy 1000 with Japanies products and reaping the popularity gained so till date.
S R Ravi - 1066 days ago
Looks like another car company about to bite the dust following FoMoCo in India