Honda has announced it is suspending its shipments to Russia as a consequence of the nation’s globally condemned move to invade neighbouring Ukraine.
Russia - under the orders of President Vladimir Putin - began rolling into Ukrainian territory on 25 February and has subjected the nation to a pummelling of heavy artillery and military attacks.
In little more than a week, Russian forces have captured the key city of Kherson and have made significant in-roads into Luhansk, Maripuol, Donetsk and Kharkiv, while it has mounted a vicious assault on the capital city Kyiv.
With a reported 2000+ civilians killed in the fighting - a figure that is expected to be much higher - more than 1.7m refugees have fled across the Ukrainian border too.
While the attacks have drawn strong condemnation around the world, so far nations have held back on joining the military effort to push Russia back. Instead, they have mounted a targeted assault on Russia’s economy, with heavy sanctions that have led to the rouble to double.
This approach has been stimulated further by high-profile companies severing ties in Russia, with Harley-Davidson becoming the first major motorcycle manufacturer to announce it is stopping shipments and business in Russia as a consequence of the war.
This was then followed by Polaris - owners of Indian Motorcycle - and now Honda, which is halting shipments across its business for the time being, though it intimates it is partly due to the economic stress it would put on the company due to the sanctions.
“The Japanese house made this decision due to the challenges around distribution and finances,” he explained Misako Saka, Honda spokesperson, according to Moto.it . " It will resume shipments once the situation returns to normal.”
Regardless of the reason, Honda’s swift move will be seen as significant in a motorcycling context and will turn the focus on Yamaha, Kawasaki and more as to whether they will attempt to stick it out, or join the exodus.
Other household names turning its back on Russia in the past few days include Jaguar Land Rover, H&M, Netflix and BP.
