- Willingness for the partnership was revealed by CEO Minoru Kato
- Collaboration is feasible in terms of charging infrastructure and swappable batteries
- Honda is yet to send out a formal proposal for joining hands
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India is reportedly open to joining hands with the competing brands for the development of electric two-wheelers in India.
The willingness of partnership was revealed by Minoru Kato, the CEO of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India. The top honcho believes that the collaboration can be executed in the areas of battery swapping technology and in the development of charging infrastructure. Although the company is ready for the collaboration, Honda hasn’t sent out any formal proposal to the competitors yet.
The Honda CEO made this statement taking into consideration Niti Aayog’s recent proposal of electrifying all the below-150cc two-wheelers in India by 2025. The top official believes that such a transition would be very early to execute for two-wheeler manufacturers in the country. Moreover, similar apprehensions have been attracted by other major two-wheeler companies as well, who think such a shift would be impractical to carry out in the given timeline. Reportedly, Honda has no plans to abide by the government’s 2025 deadline and will continue with the expansion plans related to petrol-powered two-wheelers.
Honda, similar to other manufacturers, is currently focused on the BS-VI transition. The company recently unveiled the BS-VI model of the Activa 125 which will be launched around the festive season. The bikemaker is currently coping with the declining sales of its two-wheelers which was severe in March 2019 when it saw a year-on-year drop of 46 per cent. The shift towards electric two-wheelers amidst this dwindling sales and BS-VI transition wouldn’t be lucrative for the manufacturer.
Source – TOI, FinancialExpress
