since 1976
since 1976
HONDA Malaysia enjoyed another record year in 2018 having sold 102,282 vehicles and breaching the 100,000 mark for the second time in succession. This has maintained its status as the top non-national brand for the third consecutive year, trailing only Perodua. Its share of the 2018 market stands at 17.1 per cent with the TIV (Total Industry Volume) at 598,714.
However, Honda Malaysia is keeping its feet on the ground looking forward to 2019 and is targeting a sales volume of 95,000 vehicles. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Toichi Ishiyama says the conservative target is based on the lower TIV forecast of 580,000 vehicles by the Malaysian Automotive Association. As such, the target volume remains strong since it accounts for a 16-per cent market share.
Lower target aside, Honda’s sales achievement in 2018 continues to be impressive and perhaps might be a little challenging to maintain going forward. To keep up the momentum, Ishiyama says one of the company’s strategies is to introduce new models to keep the brand’s range fresh and appealing to customers.
Among the new models for 2019 were the introduction in January of the Honda HR-V 1.8L RS and the HR-V 1.5L Sport Hybrid i-DCD, which is the first hybrid model in the compact SUV segment in the market. These newbies were followed by the Jazz Mugen and BR-V Special Edition models in February, of which only 300 models each were made available. And more ‘exciting models’ are on the way as the year progresses.
Its 2018 resume includes all CKD (complete knockdown) models that are locally assembled being segment leaders and the City was the highest company sales unit contributor, accounting for 32 per cent of its overall sales volume. The other CKD models were the Jazz, BR-V, HR-V, Civic, Accord and CR-V. The Civic and CR-V were also strong movers as they made up 16 and 13 per cent respectively of the total sales volume.
Ishiyama says the local reception to models with advanced safety technology was also encouraging. This is the Honda Sensing, an item under Honda’s Next Generation Advanced Technology. Since its introduction in the Accord in 2017, the variant with Honda Sensing made up 18 per cent of the more than 3600 cars sold till the end of 2018.
Likewise, the same success story applies to the 5th generation CR-V with Honda Sensing that was introduced in the same year as the Accord with the feature; it contributed to 33 per cent of the 20,600 CR-Vs sold at the end of 2018.
This success story goes too for the turbocharged models. In 2016, Honda was the first Japanese car manufacturer to introduce a turbocharged model in the C-segment for the mass market in Malaysia. Since then, it has become a most sought-after model with the 10th generation Civic Turbo accounting for 58 per cent of the 41,000 Civics sold since its launch three years ago.
Ishiyama says Honda Malaysia also chalked up an 11-per cent growth in after-sales service intake against that in 2017. This makes it the highest after-sales service intake in its history. This increase was complemented by another record in the sales of Honda Genuine Parts, which saw a jump of 25 per cent.
Keeping customers happy is a very relevant mantra today and Honda Malaysia has outlined a second key strategy to maintain its leading position in the market. To improve the customer service standard, Ishiyama says the company is seeking to raise the bar by uplifting customer satisfaction through providing ‘first-class’ hospitality at all dealerships.
To ensure that this better customer experience is realised, Honda associates are further trained with the emphasis on providing thorough and comprehensive services to customers who visit the dealerships. At the same time, Ishiyama says Honda Malaysia is providing ‘outstanding benefits and enhanced’ after-sales services for the customers to ‘elevate the joy of buying’.
A third key strategy is to strengthen the dealer network. Currently, Honda Malaysia has a nationwide presence with 120 dealerships that include 22 body and paint centres (4S dealerships). The 3S centres number 83 in Peninsular Malaysia and 15 in Sabah and Sarawak. He says Honda Malaysia is working closely with the dealers to ‘up the ante’ in serving customers.
