Honda launched the Mobilio recently and a few weeks later they announced that production of the City sedan will be moved to its second plant in Rajasthan. This move brought the production of the City sedan to a halt and affected its supply in the market causing high waiting periods.
According to a source, dealers have reported that the waiting period for the City is now a minimum of three months. Honda has resorted to a made-to-order policy for the base E variant due to low demand. In contrast, the other variants S, SV, V, VX now command a waiting period of at least four to five months depending on the choice. The City’s main rival, the Verna, is available at a maximum waiting period of one month.
Meanwhile, the waiting period for the Mobilio is also high owing to heavy demand for the MPV. The market report says that the petrol variants cannot be bought in a hush either and are available only after waiting for three months. The diesel models cannot be taken home without waiting for four months and if you want the top-spec RS variant, a wait of about seven months is in order. Its competitor Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is available within a month (three weeks) from the date of order.
Honda’s move to maximise production for the Mobilio by halting production of the City will help the MPV’s sales, but this could invariably affect its best-seller, the City. Although, production of the City will begin in September and Honda will try to resolve this shortfall in demand, the most benefit will be taken by the competition with Honda struggling to manage its production. They are in the midst of a production crisis, but this was long predicted by us as Honda has been sluggish in making their decisions. But is it right on the company’s part to halt production of a successful model? No, it isn’t and the inconvenienced buyers and vendors will not approve of it.