Thai floods wash away Honda car sales in India

In the wake of the recent floods in Thailand, Honda Siel Cars India is operating with severe production constraints since the beginning of November 2011, impacting its monthly sales. The company reported sales of 1,982 units during the month of November 2011. Model wise sales break-up: Brio: 666; Jazz: 382; City: 652; Civic: 161; Accord: 91; CR-V: 30. Exactly a month back in October 2011, the company had sold 3376 units of the popular City and recorded a combined sale of 1683 for the Jazz and Brio together. Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (HATC), the Honda automobile production subsidiary in Thailand (headquartered in the RojanaIndustrial Park, Ayutthaya province) has suspended its production since October 4, due to flooding of the plant. This has resulted in disruption of the supply of components from Thailand. The parts shortage has affected all the models manufactured in India, but the impact is much more on the Honda Brio, Jazz and City because of their larger volumes. Jnaneswar Sen, Sr. Vice President – Marketing & Sales, Honda Siel Cars India said “As announced earlier, the Thailand floods have severely impacted our production in the month of November due to the parts shortage and this is expected to continue in December as well. We regret the inconvenience faced by our customers due to this situation and seek their understanding in the matter. HSCI is making concerted efforts to resume full production as soon as possible.”