Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) on Monday reported a 96.72 per cent decline in domestic sales to 375 units in May amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown and operational restrictions. The company had sold 11,442 units in the domestic market in May 2019, HCIL said in a statement. "The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented situation where the company and its dealer network have been responding in the best possible manner," HCIL Senior Vice-President and Director (Marketing and Sales) Rajesh Goel said.
During May, after roll-out of several relaxations from central and state governments, the company focused on re-opening of its network while ensuring strict adherence to the sanitisation, safety and distancing guidelines for COVID-19 prevention, he added.
Against all odds, the dealers have now been able to operationalise almost 280 facilities pan-India, Goel said.
"As a result, we were able to deliver more than 1,900 units (retail sales) to our customers. The domestic wholesale last month was of course quite limited due to the negligible inventory available at our factory before the lockdown," he added.