Honda bullish despite 'very tough' market

 

Its optimism is underpinned by strong demand for new launches like the 1.5-litre Honda City, says managing director and chief executive officer Toru Takahashi,

HONDA Malaysia Sdn Bhd is confident it can achieve its sales target of 35,000 vehicles this year, an 8 per cent increase from last year, even as the overall auto sales in Malaysia is expected to shrink amid the weak economy.

It sold 32,486 cars last year, after a growth of 14 per cent.

Managing director and chief executive officer Toru Takahashi, who took over the helm last month, said the market is "very tough" this year, but its optimism is underpinned by strong demand for new launches like the 1.5-litre Honda City. The popular mid-size car has had its look greatly improved on customers' feedback, and has contributed 60 per cent to Honda Malaysia's record 3,905 unit sales in March.

It has also launched the eighth generation Honda Civic in March, which will help spur demand.

The new Honda City has chalked up sales of 5,818 units so far this year, compared with 6,051 units Vios that rival Toyota has sold here, according to OSK Research.

Takahashi said it is not Honda's aspiration to take over Toyota one day as the biggest non-national car seller in Malaysia.

"Toyota is a very big company globally, not just in Malaysia. Our principle is to keep customers happy with quality automobiles and not chasing sales with competitors," he told Business Times in an interview in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Sales of Honda Motor Co, the second largest in Japan after Toyota Motor Corp, has also bucked the industry's decline in the Asian country last month, buoyed by a new model called Insight hybrid. Honda Malaysia is 51 per cent-owned by Honda Motor.

At a time when global auto giants including General Motor are fighting for survival and sales for Toyota slumped amid rising jobless rate in Japan, Takahashi said its product-positioning will help it tide through the difficult times.

"We are a rather small company compared with other giants. Our models are mainly small- to medium-sized, are fuel-efficient and of higher performance. Hopefully this will help us survive the tough market," he said.

The group is facing a very hard time in Japan, the US, Europe and most Asian countries, he said, but the Malaysian market is not as bad compared to others despite the economic slowdown.

"We have been launching new models since last year and they are appreciated by the customers as good value for money, the quality of the automobile is better than the competitor. We are thankful for their support," Takahashi said.