Hero MotoCorp halts production all across as precautionary measure
The country’s largest two-wheeler maker, Hero MotoCorp, has decided to halt operations temporarily at all of its manufacturing facilities in the country, including its Global Parts Center (GPC), in view of the unabated spread of Covid-19. The company will utilise these shutdown days for necessary maintenance work in the plants.
“The shutdown will not impact the company’s ability to meet the demand, which has been impacted due to localised shutdowns in many states and the production loss will be compensated during the remainder of the quarter,” the company said. All plants will resume normal operations post this short shutdown period.
All plants will resume normal operations post this short shutdown period.
Each plant and GPC will remain shut for four days, in a staggered manner between April 22 and May 1, based on the local scenario. All corporate offices of the company are already in work-from-home (WFH) mode and very few employees are in offices on rotation basis for continuity of essential services.
After opening of the last lockdown in May, Hero had a substantial jump in sales, primarily due to pent-up demand and the festive season on Diwali.
In January, the company’s promoter and chairman said he expected the current momentum in demand in the rural market to continue in FY22, as the union government is expected to persist with measures to boost rural income.
Sales of Hero’s entry-level motorcycles surged post removal of lockdown on the back of faster recovery in demand in rural areas and increased preference for personal mobility. The company raised production to 800,000 units in October, expecting robust recovery in demand during the festival season.
The Indian auto industry is already apprehensive as several states have imposed strict lockdown-like restrictions. Several carmakers fear the horrors of April 2020 will return as business is likely to take a hit due to the curfew imposed in many places.
Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava, warning against a lockdown, said the pandemic has to be tackled with micro solutions from different states, not through a blanket approach-like lockdown.
“We will be able access trends and define numbers only by the end of the month depending on the severity and extension of the restrictions. As of date, we have had a good number of pending orders Therefore, we are striving to meet customer demand in spite of the local curbs and lockdowns.” said Naveen Soni, Sr Vice-President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
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