Greater Noida plant closure: Honda Civic, CR-V will no longer be produced in India

Launch in March 2019 the re-entry of the Honda Civic met with a severe slowdown. Honda is thus offering a direct Rs 2.5 lakh discount on the premium sedan to clear stocks (Image: Honda)

With Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) announcing its decision to shut down its Greater Noida plant on December 23, Honda Civic and Honda CR-V will no longer be produced in the country.

HCIL on December 23 cleared the air on the closure of its Greater Noida plant, citing efforts to realign its manufacturing operations as the reason. This plant was mainly producing Honda Civic, Honda CR-V and Honda City. Though popular Honda City will be shifted to the plant at Tapukara in Rajasthan, Honda Civic and Honda CR-V will be discontinued.

Honda Cars stops production at Greater Noida manufacturing facility

HCIL's Tapukara plant is built for smaller cars production and employs around 5,500 people currently. Despite stating that its CIVIC and CR-V will be out of production, the automaker said that these cars will be listed on the official website of the company until the stocks get exhausted.

"It is a difficult decision for us to stop production of CR-V and Civic as both are popular global models. It has been done as the Tapukara plant was conceived as a high-efficiency facility for small and mid-sized cars. Cars above a certain size cannot be manufactured there unless you make certain investments," Business-Standard quoted HCIL Senior Vice-President and Director (Sales and Marketing) Rajesh Goel as saying.

However, Goel added that the firm will keep supporting its customers who own Honda CIVIC and Honda CR-V for the next 15 years. Prior to this, the automaker had stopped the sale of BR-V and Accord Hybrid in India. Currently, the company's portfolio comprises four models -- Amaze, City, WR-V and Jazz.

Commenting on the SUV sale in India, Goel admitted that they are not as strong in this zone and hope to make a comeback.

Earlier in the day, the firm released a statement confirming the closure of its Greater Noida plant. However, it added that all head office functions, India R&D Centre and Spare Parts operations will continue at Greater Noida.

Most workers at the Greater Noida plant have either taken VRS or have been transferred to Alwar, CNBC-TV18 had reported on December 19. "There have been no layoffs at the facility. We were able to reduce the headcount with VRS and some were also shifted to Tapukara," Goel noted.

The company on December 1, 2020, had said it had a “rewarding festive season”. It clocked monthly domestic sales of 9,990 units in November, as against 6,459 units in the corresponding month in 2019. Global automobile major Honda’s Indian subsidiary was established in 1995.