HIPP is highly committed to provide latest technology in all its product offerings.

Vijay Upreti, Senior Vice President - Sales & Marketing, Honda India Power Products Limited

Honda India Power Products Limited (HIPP), India's No. 1 power products company is a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. Japan. Since its inception, HIPP has been the leader in the power products industry, manufacturing and marketing a diverse portfolio of power products at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Greater Noida. “HIPP is ably supported by HRID (Honda Research & Industrial development) in identifying user requirements and potential applications by regular market research,” states Vijay Upreti, Senior Vice President - Sales & Marketing. Excerpts from the interview…

Over three and half decades Honda has been a leading manufacturer and supplier of power products in India. How do you rate your success so far and what are the contributing factors?

Honda India Power Products Limited (HIPP), India's No. 1 power products company is a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. Japan. Since its inception, HIPP has been the leader in the power products industry, manufacturing and marketing a diverse portfolio of power products at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Greater Noida.

For the last 35 years, HIPP has been the preferred choice of customers worldwide and has powered the dreams of over 5 million happy users by 'Empowering them to do better'. HIPP has consciously made efforts to facilitate mechanization in construction and agriculture domains by introducing Honda's legendary 4-stroke technology based products like Overhead Valve (OHV)Engine powered concrete mixer, vibrator, cutter, surface leveller, soil compactor, stone breaker &portable water pumps, power tillers, brush cutters for optimal work efficiency.

The trust reposed in us by our valued customers inspires us to deliver products and services of the highest quality that are compact, fuel efficient and environment friendly.

What was the objective of the recent corporate name change to HIPP and what is the bearing of the same on your customers in India?

Keeping in view their respective long term business strategies, Honda & Usha International Ltd.(UIL) agreed to end the joint venture on 31st of March 2020. Consequent to the end of JV, the company name has changed from Honda Siel Power Products Ltd (HSPP)to Honda India Power Products Ltd. (HIPP). All the operations of the company remain unchanged and unaffected.

How do you assess the potential for Honda range of products and which are the major segments that drive the demand for your products?

Honda range of power products have an excellent potential in India due to the low mechanization levels when compared with the global average. Apart from our CBU(Complete Build Up) products HIPP is collaborating with OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to augment the line up. We therefore see potential for our engine based applications to bridge the labour scarcity gap, which is and shall remain unavoidable in the future.

What are the unique features of Honda series of portable generators?

Honda series of portable generators come with a host of unique features like fuel injection (FI) and intelligent eco-throttle technology resulting in unmatched fuel economy. The Inverter technology feature delivers a Pure Sine wave output leading to protection of sensitive electronic equipment. Durable and compact design offers long service life and portability.

All Honda generator models comply with the latest Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) stipulated norms for noise and emissions.

What is the impact of the focus on digitization of economy on your product range, especially on portable power sector? What are the growth opportunities?

Digitization of economy has increased the need of 24X7 online connectivity thereby increasing the need of continuous power supply across the country. This need for seamless connectivity has led to increase in demand for generators to be kept as a viable power backup solution, in case of disruptions faced in primary power supply. Honda's range of portable petrol run generators are increasingly being used by small homes and businesses for their daily power backup requirements.

How have you been able make an inroad into the construction segment, especially in the engine side?

Honda 4-Stroke Over Head Valve (OHV) engine powered construction machines are very well accepted worldwide for various construction related activities owing to their unmatched fuel economy, portability, durability compact design and light weight. In India, HIPP has been successful in introducing Honda OHV engine powered concrete mixer, cutter, vibrator, soil compactor, surface leveller etc. bringing about a remarkable improvement in productivity as compared to the prevailing conventional machinery.

What are the opportunities from the agri sector especially for engines, water pumps and other product lines?

Honda has been a market leader in introducing 4-stroke petrol run power products like water pumps, power tiller, brush cutter, Honda OHV engine powered stationary and backpack sprayers, crop harvester etc. These products have contributed significantly in ramping up the efficiency in various farm operations viz. land preparation, sowing, irrigating, spraying, de-weeding and crop harvesting. Farm productivity and increasing farmer income are the benefits that have accrued and well appreciated by the farming community.

Could you brief us on the latest launch of the 4-Stroke backpack brush cutter?

HIPP Introduced its 4-stroke backpack brush cutter range UMR435T in the Indian market in Sept 20'. The response has been encouraging and the product has been well accepted throughout the country. With this successful launch, HIPP has further consolidated its position as the industry leader in the brush cutter category offering an entire range of brush cutters meeting every requirement.

What is your assessment on the impact of the pandemic on your business performance?

Ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected normal way of doing business. Taking cognizance of this fact, we at HIPP have reviewed all business operations starting from manufacturing to our dealerships. Manufacturing operations have started with complete sanitization of our factory and office facilities. Adoption of social distancing norms has been complimented vide mandatory temperature checks as well as convenient placement of hand sanitizing machines.

Agriculture has been a significant contributor even during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and is driving the revival of Indian economy. With a strong sowing trend during the ongoing rabi season, we expect this revival to further accelerate and boost the demand in general with resultant cascading effect across sectors.

How do you address the challenge of counterfeited products in the market?

We at HIPP are committed to provide original Honda products to our valued customers. To further increase awareness and educate potential customers to identify original Honda products we have taken following proactive steps:

- Every Honda product comes with a secure Hologram helping customer to verify its genuineness.

- Honda's IP cell regularly monitors for logo and copyright violations and takes suitable actions to curb sales of such counterfeit products in the Indian market

- HIPP is also making efforts in building customer awareness through 'Know your Honda' campaign on both online and offline platforms

- HIPP has a customer care facility (Toll Free no.: 1800-11-2323) to answer customer queries regarding genuine Honda products and authorised sales and service channel partners. Similar information is available on our Website (www.hondaindiapower.com) as well.

Could you brief us on the R&D and what are the solutions from your stable you are most excited about?

HIPP is highly committed to provide latest technology in all its product offerings and is ably supported by HRID (Honda Research & Industrial development) in identifying user requirements and potential applications by regular market research, ascertaining evolving consumer requirements and collaboration with its overseas R&D centres. HIPP and Honda R&D facilities regularly collaborate in the search for optimum and efficient solutions for Indian as well as global consumers. Product introduction to match this goal is an ongoing process.

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