Honda is in a very awkward problem. Earlier this year the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami severely affected the Japanese automakers directly and many other automakers indirectly as parts supplies from Japan slowed down drastically. In September this year, the second natural calamity to hit Japan was the Typhoon Roke, which also disrupted production briefly.
Now Honda India is facing an acute shortage of auto parts due to floods in Thailand and the natural calamity has led to stoppage in taking bookings for the company’s premium hatchback-Honda Jazz. It is reported that production is curbed because of the parts shortage.
Earlier the demand for the Jazz was so low that the company had a pile of cars stocked up at dealers. Now with the recent price revisions, the demand has soared so high, that the Japanese automaker is not able to supply enough cars to the dealer, as they have lesser number of cars allocated to them and it becomes irritating for the customers to wait as long as six months for a car. Honda is still assessing the impact of floods in Thailand where situation is very grim. Honda plans to double production at its Greater Noida facility but won’t be able to fulfil demand in the near term.
“The demand for Jazz has taken us by surprise. The initial production target for Jazz was much less. Dealers can’t take more bookings as they have lesser number of cars allocated to them and it becomes irritating for the customers to wait as long as six months for a car,” a Honda spokesperson said.
Also see – Japanese Tsunami’s effect on Indian Auto Market
