Lack of manpower hampering plans to restart plants: Honda

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) on Wednesday said lack of required workforce is making it difficult for the company to resume operations at its two manufacturing plants, but added that its dealerships have started to open across the country.

The automaker, which sells models like City and Amaze, said that with new relaxations rolled out by the government, it is planning to restart operations at Tapukara plant in Rajasthan sometime next week.

"However, in order to resume production even at lower level and in single shift, we require manpower which is living in the neighbourhood and also from nearby areas of Dharuhera, Rewari etc.," HCIL Senior Vice President and Director, (Marketing and Sales) Rajesh Goel told PTI.

"Currently, it appears difficult to get the required manpower due to the travel restrictions and start production as per our plan," he added.

The company will keep assessing manpower availability and also supply chain position closely to take a decision on when to start production, he added.

Regarding Greater Noida facility, Goel said the company will restart operations once it receives necessary permissions from the authorities and overcomes the challenge of manpower availability.

On opening dealerships, Goel said the company has rolled out comprehensive guidelines in line with government norms on safety and distancing along with its own measures which dealerships must follow before restarting operations.

"Each of the dealership is in the process of getting necessary approvals from the local authorities to resume operations and opening accordingly. As of today, quite a few of the dealerships have opened across north, east, west and south," he added.

The dealerships will open phase-wise during the month and can focus on servicing vehicles being used by essential services staff like doctors and also breakdown vehicles, Goel noted.

HCIL currently has 375 dealerships across the country.