In recent years, Guangqi Honda was exposed to thousands of layoffs due to sluggish sales, and in the face of such large-scale layoffs, people can't help but want to ask what Guangqi Honda wants to do?
1. Guangqi Honda's sales are sluggish and thousands of employees are being laid off?
According to a report by Sina Technology, some media reported that due to sluggish sales in China, Guangqi Honda will start layoffs starting this month, with a scale of up to 1,000 employees. Guangqi Honda responded that the purpose is to accelerate the strategic transformation of new energy.
According to the report, Guangqi Honda is recruiting voluntary resignations from its production staff, and about 1,700 people have applied so far, accounting for 14% of the total number of employees in the joint venture.
Guangqi Honda confirmed the news to the media. Guangqi Honda responded that the solicitation has just been launched, and employees can independently propose it according to their wishes, and Guangqi Honda will compensate employees in accordance with laws and regulations, and the specific compensation plan has not yet been determined. Guangqi Honda also said that the plan of not renewing the expired labor contract and voluntarily negotiating the termination of the labor contract is aimed at accelerating the transformation of Guangqi Honda's new energy strategy, and the production will also be adjusted with the reduction of the production team, but the specific production plan adjustment has not yet been clarified.
In December 2023, Guangqi Honda was also exposed to layoffs. At the time, Honda said it would lay off about 900 contract workers at its Chinese joint venture, Guangqi Honda, in order to make a more rapid transition to the electric vehicle market, equivalent to 7% of Guangqi Honda's approximately 13,000 employees.
In 2021 and 2023, Guangqi Honda's sales will be 780,300, 741,800 and 640,500 respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 3.17%, 4.93% and 13.66%, respectively, and it has declined for three consecutive years.
In the first four months of 2024, Guangqi Honda sold 141,600 units, a year-on-year decrease of 19.01%.
2. What does Guangqi Honda want to do?
In recent years, Guangqi Honda's sales in the Chinese market have continued to be sluggish, which has attracted widespread attention from the industry. Recently, Guangqi Honda announced that it would lay off thousands of employees, a move that undoubtedly exacerbated market concerns. However, on a deeper level, this layoff is actually a choice that Guangqi Honda has to make in order to accelerate its strategic transformation in the face of market changes. So, what should we think of this choice?
First of all, in recent years, Guangqi Honda's sales performance has not been satisfactory, which is closely related to the overall trend of the market. On the one hand, factors such as the uncertainty of the global economic environment and the decline in consumer purchasing power have directly affected automobile sales. On the other hand, the rapid development of new energy vehicles and policy support have made more and more consumers turn to new energy vehicles, squeezing the demand for traditional fuel vehicles.
In the context of declining sales, corporate profit margins have been severely compressed. In order to maintain operational stability and financial health, Guangqi Honda has taken measures to reduce labor costs by laying off employees, which is a common strategy for companies in the face of market pressure. By optimizing the organizational structure, improve operational efficiency, and retain more resources and flexibility for the long-term development of the enterprise.
Secondly, in the face of the wave of new energy vehicles, the transformation of traditional car companies has become a consensus. One of the deep-seated reasons for Guangqi Honda's layoffs is precisely to adapt to this transformation process. The R&D, production, and sales of new energy vehicles are quite different from those of traditional fuel vehicles, and more talents are needed to focus on electric vehicles, intelligent networking, autonomous driving, and other fields. The original workforce may lack sufficient professionals in the field of new energy vehicles. Therefore, layoffs are not simply cost reductions, but are accompanied by a reconfiguration of the talent structure, bringing in more skills and knowledge that are in line with future trends to support the strategic transformation of the company.
Third, Guangqi Honda's dilemma is not an isolated case, but a problem faced by the entire Japanese car brand on a global scale. In the past few years, Japanese cars have gradually lost their market advantage due to their conservative market strategies and lack of technological innovation. In the field of new energy vehicles, Japanese cars are even more faltering, and compared with new energy vehicle brands in Europe, the United States and China, the technical advantages are not obvious. The loss of market share not only affects the brand image of Japanese cars, but also poses a serious challenge to the profitability of enterprises. Under such circumstances, Guangqi Honda's layoffs can be seen as a response to market challenges, as well as a refocus on resources, accelerating technological innovation and adjusting market layout.
Fourth, layoffs are only the beginning of Guangqi Honda's transformation, and the next key is whether it can quickly launch competitive new energy models. This requires enterprises to carry out profound changes in technology research and development, supply chain management, marketing and other aspects to accelerate the research and development and market speed of new energy products. In the face of fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market, Guangqi Honda needs to re-examine and shape its brand image and clarify its market positioning in the new energy era. Whether it is taking the high-end route or focusing on cost performance, it needs to have a clear brand story and differentiated competitive advantages.
Therefore, although Guangqi Honda's layoffs of thousands of people have caused market concerns, from a deeper level, this is a choice that Guangqi Honda has to make in order to accelerate its strategic transformation in the face of market changes. In the future, how will Guangqi Honda perform? Let's take a look. #记录我的2024#