Stir may hit Hero Honda August sales

Hero Honda Motors Ltd is likely to sell "little less" than 200,000 units in August as there was a "minor" affect on despatches following a weeklong truckers' strike, a senior company official said Monday. The company had sold 145,730 motorcycles in August 2003 and 205,654 units a month ago.

"Our sales should be little less than 200,000 units as despatches of few thousands of motorcycles were affected by the truckers' strike. August is also not a good month, anyway," its executive director-business operations Atul Sobti said.

The nationwide strike by over 4 million truckers' ended Saturday after a settlement was reached between the All India Motor Transport Congress, the union spearheading the strike, and the government.

Sobti said the company would be able to make up for the shortfall in despatches in August during the current month.

Japan's Honda Motor Co Ltd and Hero group have 26 per cent stake each in Hero Honda.

The company has a manufacturing capacity of 2.8 million motorcycles at its two plants in Dharuhera and Gurgaon in Haryana. It is scouting for a location to set up its third plant to meet the growth in volumes.