COVID-19 Pandemic: Yamaha Motorcycles India to Lay-Off Employees

[sushmi]

COVID-19 Pandemic: Yamaha Motorcycles India to Lay-Off Employees As Part Of Major Restructuring
By Rahul Nagaraj

Yamaha Motors India is said to be planning on a major restructuring of its operations in the country. According to reports from ET Auto, the two-wheeler manufacturer has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a major reshuffle at its two facilities in India.

Reports also suggest that Yamaha will be cutting jobs of close to 200 employees, out of which 80 of them have already been laid-off. These employee lay-offs are from various divisions of Yamaha including sales, marketing, production, procurement and others as well.

The restructuring of operations by Yamaha is mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company between the April-June period is said to have registered a sales decline of over 83 per cent. Production process is also said to have slowed down at its Surajpur plant, Greater Noida.

Reports also suggested that Yamaha has shifted the scooter assembly line to its Chennai plant. The Surajpur facility will going forward manufacture just the premium range of motorcycles for Yamaha, including the R15, FZ-series and the MT-15 model.

ET Auto also reports that the company is also completely reshuffling its employees in the sales and marketing department. Top-performing employees have also been given the chance to transfer from Yamaha's Surajpur plant to its Chennai facility.

The major reshuffling and restructuring of Yamaha India operations is to be future-ready. The Japanese brand expects India to be the largest production hub for two-wheelers in the next five years, overtaking even Indonesia. The Indian market is now considered to be the first priority for the company worldwide.

Yamaha recently introduced a new user-friendly website in India with a virtual sales platform. This new website will allow customers to look at, book and purchase Yamaha products. The online sales platform will collaborate with the dealers and ensure a smooth purchase experience for customers across the country — here are the details.

Thoughts On The Yamaha India Operations Restructuring

Yamaha is ensuring they are future-ready in the Indian market, as they expect the country to soon become the largest production hub. The restructuring operations could help Yamaha introduce newer products in the Indian market as well.