Features
Honda to cut independent dealers as part of restructuring in Tokyo
Honda Motor Co Ltd will consolidate its domestic sales network and plans to reduce the number of independent dealers, which topped 1,000 in 2005, to around 870 by autumn.
In 2006, Honda began a restructuring drive targeting mainly directly-run dealers, bringing the total down to 922 by the end of that year. Of these, 848 are small independent dealers.
But the newspaper said Honda intends to maintain the number of sales locations nationwide at 2,400 while increasing their size and services to lure buyers.
Under the new plan, independent dealers are being integrated with one another throughout the country, with more than 20 such mergers at last count.
