Brands
Honda wraps FY25 with a turbocharged 58.31 lakh units sold, goes full throttle
MUMBAI: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) hit the finish line of FY 2024–25 with its engines roaring, posting a massive 58.31 lakh unit sales—cruising ahead with a 19 per cent year-on-year jump. In March 2025 alone, the company sold 4,27,448 units, including 4,01,411 domestic and 26,037 exported two-wheelers. That’s not just acceleration—it’s domination.
If FY25 had a theme, it would be more power to Honda—and not just the fuel-injected kind. The brand broke into electric mobility with its ACTIVA e and QC1, launched bookings on 1 January and started deliveries by March. At the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, Honda didn’t just flex—it showed off its green muscle with tech-laden concepts, including the CB300F Flex-Fuel, Motocompacto, and advanced battery-swapping tech.
The OBD2B compliant line-up got a massive revamp too, covering popular models from Activa to Hornet 2.0, showing Honda’s commitment to stay road-ready and regulation-proof.
HMSI’s premium BigWing arm also fired on all cylinders. The launch of the NX200 with new-age upgrades and the refreshed CB650R and CBR650R turned heads in the upper cc league. And the 300cc flex-fuel CB300F? It’s now a first in India.
Milestones? Oh, plenty. Shine & SP125 crossed 30 lakh customers in eastern India and 10 lakh in Madhya Pradesh, while the south saw Honda break the two crore sales mark. The numbers weren’t just big—they were legacy-defining.
On the social front, HMSI didn’t let off the throttle either. It educated over 97 lakh citizens on road safety across 120 cities and trained women cab drivers under its Stree सारथी programme. From planting one lakh trees during environment month to empowering farmers through Project Annadata, it’s clear Honda’s drive is as much about heart as horsepower.
Motorsport fans weren’t left in the dust. Mohsin Paramban dominated the IDEMITSU Honda Indian Talent Cup, while Honda Racing India made noise at the Asia Road Racing Championship. Even at the rough-and-ready Dakar Rally, Honda clinched a double podium with style.
Honda didn’t just close FY25 on a high. It wheelied across it, leaving behind skid marks of innovation, impact, and sheer velocity.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
