Economic activity is yet to return to pre-COVID levels although there are still signs of pent-up demand in the market, said Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director, Sales and Marketing at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd (HMSI) on Friday. As the company eyes a bigger share in the middleweight motorcycle segment, Guleria also said that fresh hiring by industry and the re-opening of colleges will add customers. Honda has launched the CB-350-RS.
Speaking with CNBC-TV18 about HMSI's strategy for the premium segment, the demand outlook and the impact of high commodity prices and container shortage, Guleria said, “We haven’t seen the economic activity back to the normal level, which was there before the pandemic. So it will be too early to comment that it is 100 percent over.”
In terms of pent-up demand, he said, “Lot many people who wanted to buy earlier, didn’t buy and they are still coming to our showrooms and buying their favourite product. Many are getting re-employed, that is also a part of pent-up demand. Universities and colleges are going to open again, so these are the people who will come back to the market.”
All the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are facing a lot of pressure because of the raw material and commodity prices increasing. Recently, the tyre and rubber prices have also gone up.
“I don’t think any company has the capacity to absorb the prices further. They will be passed on in a stepwise manner to the customer,” he mentioned.
On shortage containers, he said, “There are many countries where we are struggling to get the vessels or getting the product sailed out to the respective countries from where we have got the orders especially in the Central America and Latin America there is a shortage of containers. There are also pressures on the current freight charges.”
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(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
First Published: Feb 19, 2021 9:56 AM IST
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