How Honda rebuilt its 2-wheeler brand in India after the Hero divorce

Time of India

3 days ago

Since the time it parted ways with Hero nearly 15 years ago, Honda has been relentless in pursuing its goal of taking over as India's leading two-wheeler maker. However, it has not been able to dislodge its former ally from the top slot even while scoring brownie points in some months, including July this year, where its numbers were higher.
However, what is even more interesting are the experiences of the Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (
HMSI
) teams from Japan during the years following the divorce with Hero when they pulled out all the stops to boost their business and gain market share. These stories have been put together as a fast-paced narrative on the Honda website.
At the time of going solo, Hero had a vice-like grip in the motorcycle segment powered by the Splendor and Passion brands. HMSI's big success story was in scooters thanks to the Activa while it was lagging behind in motorcycles despite promising products like Unicorn.
'In expanding into the Indian motorcycle market, increasing sales of motorcycles, which account for the majority of the market, was essential, and this required extraordinary efforts on the ground,' states Honda in its narrative.
Primary mission
The market share of 70% in the
Hero Honda
alliance now dropped to just about 10% for HMSI alone. Reclaiming the top spot within three years became its primary mission. Consequently, staff with extensive on-site experience were selected and despatched as expat representatives to offices in each region to implement strategies tailored to regional characteristics.
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Honda targets two-wheeler leadership in India this fiscal
Additionally, large-scale surveys were conducted with the assistance of local associates, resulting in the selection of 35 key regions out of approximately 6,000 administrative districts nationwide. The materials compiled from various marketing data for each region and zones (district) linked to the region became thick books known as 'phone books'.
Several versions of these phone books were then created for each region and zone. Based on these, strategies and execution plans were gradually implemented by associates and dealers, leading to sales results in the Top 35 regions and other areas.
Taking over from experienced expatriates was no easy task. I spent my days running around, striving to instill into associates and dealers both the strategies and execution based on the phone book.Yoshitaka Nakamura
'Taking over from experienced expatriates was no easy task. I spent my days running around, striving to instill into associates and dealers both the strategies and execution based on the phone book,' recalled
Yoshitaka Nakamura
who served as a sales expatriate at the East Region Office in India from 2014 to 2017.
Brand confusion
After the joint venture with Hero Group was dissolved, scooter sales remained strong in urban areas. However, in the central and northeast regions, where motorcycle demand was high, the perception that Honda and Hero were synonymous remained deeply rooted within the market, and many consumers continued to confuse the brands.
In response, Honda launched its 'Honda is Honda' strategy to re-establish the brand's market presence and regain consumer trust. The company kicked off various initiatives to enhance brand recognition. These included installation of Honda signages at dealerships, screening iconic videos featuring F1 cars and large motorcycles to convey the Honda brand worldview, wrapping buses and trains, and producing commercials featuring popular Hindi film star, Akshay Kumar.
Also read:For Honda, its time has 'finally come' to race past Hero
Through these efforts, continues the narrative, the Japanese two-wheeler's presence steadily grew and the recognition that 'Honda is Honda Motor's global brand' became widely established in India. Honda had few dealerships in India then and it was imperative to increase its presence nationwide to ensure that customers could purchase motorcycles wherever they wanted.
Honda's motorcycle business was attractive to dealership owners and the number of dealerships increased, beyond those directly contracted with Honda, to sub-dealers without direct contracts and secondary dealers that only handled parts sales and services.
The company actively opened stores in areas where there were no self-owned dealerships. It continued its efforts to open one new dealership everyday, expanding the number from approximately 800 in 2010 to more than 5,000 in 2017. The goal was to make Honda dealerships the place where customers would purchase motorcycles, return for maintenance and parts replacement, and replace their old motorcycles.
Rural drive
The biggest challenge was expanding into rural areas and staff stationed in India agree that the 'Rural Strategy,' an aggressive expansion into the most conservative rural areas of India, was the most gruelling of all. In the early to mid-2010s, scooters accounted for approximately 25% of motorcycle sales in India, with the balance being motorcycles which sold well in rural areas.
At the time, Honda was focusing its store expansion in urban India, leaving rural areas with few dealerships. To gain market share, it decided to rapidly expand into rural zones with high demand for motorcycles. In regions with underdeveloped public transportation, the only way to travel was by car and they were too far to visit in a single day.
Not only did local associates take turns by area to accompany us, but we also developed a bond akin to comrades-in-arms with the driver over the week-long trek.Hiroki Yoshitama
With poorly maintained roads limiting speeds to only 30–40 kmph, the journey was a five-day drive through rough terrain. At accommodations along the way, it was common to have no hot water in the shower and to sleep on hard beds. Even so, spending the night in the car was not unusual—in situations where simply having a place to lie down was considered a luxury.
'Not only did local associates take turns by area to accompany us, but we also developed a bond akin to comrades-in-arms with the driver over the week-long trek,' says
Hiroki Yoshitama
who was stationed at the north and west region offices as a service representative from 2014 to 2018.
Tedious exercise
Upon arrival, Honda staff would inquire about the village chiefs, locate them, schedule an appointment, provide a thorough explanation of Honda and after gaining their understanding, begin the 'tedious process of negotiating permission' to set up a dealership. The company was also quick to note that in village societies, people chose products that everyone else was buying, especially in low-income areas where 'mistakes in purchasing are not tolerated'.
Residents in villages placed strong emphasis on the opinions of trusted individuals, or word-of-mouth. As entire communities could be swayed by the opinions of their influential figures, Honda staff persistently built trust through village meetings and expanded word-of-mouth recommendations from there.
'The main source of information in rural areas is word-of-mouth. To break into the stronghold of competing motorcycle brands, we repeatedly visited rural areas,' says
Takashi Watarai
who was in northern India from 2010 to 2015.
In Rajasthan, there was once an area termed the 'untouched rural region' where security was so poor that taking photos was not allowed, and the market was dominated by a single competing motorcycle brand.
Sales and service always go hand-in-hand. In rural areas, we placed great importance on the idea that dealerships are meaningless if they cannot provide maintenance, and we put a lot of effort into expanding our service network.Koji Takahashi
'Sales and service always go hand-in-hand. In rural areas, we placed great importance on the idea that dealerships are meaningless if they cannot provide maintenance, and we put a lot of effort into expanding our service network,' says
Koji Takahashi
, part of HMSI headquarters from 2015 to 2020.
Reaching out directly
Even after sales staff made steady efforts to open new venues, there were cases where the dealership had to close due to insufficient demand. To learn from these experiences, in regions where demand was not sufficient to justify establishing a physical dealership, Honda made efforts to directly introduce products and services to customers.
This included using a caravan truck provided by dealers to travel to rural areas and hold temporary workshops in village squares to promote products. In regions where agriculture was the primary industry, Honda staff participated in tractor exhibitions and continued steady efforts to enhance Honda brand awareness.
Also read:Honda to operate dedicated electric 2-wheeler plant in India by 2028
Through trial and error, sales gradually expanded. Honda's motorcycle market share increased by approximately 15% over the four-year period from 2011 to 2015. The steady efforts in sales and service had paid off.
Trial and error
'It was all about trial and error. Don't stop, keep moving, and challenge yourself. Always think about what you can do to make the people in India happy while you're working,' was the motto at the time, according to staff stationed in India.
Sales representatives paid attention to service maintenance while service representatives approached customers with a sales mindset to drive repeat purchases. Despite the small team of expatriates and local associates, they collaborated across departmental boundaries.
There were numerous challenges, including strengthening service systems and maintaining quality in response to increased sales, addressing the market needs for both every day and recreational motorcycles, and further strengthening the Honda brand in rural areas.