Honda puts the brakes on growth plans as scooter sales slow in India

Honda's scooter sales plunged 37 per cent year-on-year to 1,447,002 units in the first eight months of FY21

“What’s 2020 without a 6?” read the full page ads for Activa in national print dailies. This was a teaser campaign by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, the country’s largest scooter manufacturer. Released on January 1, 2020, it was to set the pace for the brand for the year and tie up a routine new year greeting with the launch of the new Activa 6G.

On January 7, 2021, Honda celebrated yet another milestone of 25 million Activas on Indian roads. But the celebrations were a blink-and-miss, and for a reason: Just a day before, the company had announced a