NEW DELHI: After remaining closed for around a month, Hero Motor- Corp, India’s largest two-wheeler maker, is gearing up towards a gradual resumption of operations and will start production at all its manufacturing plants in India from May 24. The company had already commenced single shift production at three of its plants— Gurugram and Dharuhera in Haryana and at Haridwar in the northern hill state of Uttarakhand— from May 17. Its other plants in India—Neemrana in Rajasthan, Halol in Gujarat and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh—will start single shift operations from May 24.
As will the Global Parts Centre (GPC) at Neemrana. Hero Motocorp said that it continues to monitor the situation closely and will move to double-shift production gradually. In addition to producing for the domestic market in India, these plants will have enhanced focus on catering to the Global Business (GB) markets across the world. The automaker, like many other manufacturers, had halted production across all its facilities in a staggered manner from April 22 as the second Covid-19 wave led to regional lockdowns across India.
These lockdowns also resulted in miniscule retail sales as a majority of showrooms in India remain closed. Since Covid- 19 cases have now declined from the peak, there is speculation that multiple state government may now start opening up economic activity. Meanwhile, retail two-wheeler sales declined by 27.63 per cent at 8,65,134 units in April as against 11,95,445 units in March, according to industry data. Experts believe that the month of May will be a near washout due to lockdowns.