Honda halfway through 85,000-unit sales target
Honda Malaysia is on track towards achieving its yearly sales target of 85,000 vehicles for 2015 with having already reached 51 percent of that number at the halfway mark of the year.
From January to June, Honda was the best-selling non-national brand in Malaysia, with 43,597 vehicles sold, accounting for 13.5 percent of the total industry volume (TIV) during the period.
On a year-to-year basis, the numbers represent an increase of 6,408 units or 17 percent increase from the corresponding period of 2014, which saw an already-commendable 37,189 units sold.
Monthly sales averaged over 7,200 units, peaking at 9,582 units in March. In terms of market share, Honda’s was highest in the month of June at 15.1 percent.
Main seller of the Honda range continues to be the City, which accounted for 41 percent of the company’s total sales, followed by the Jazz and HR-V with contributions of 19 and 17 percent respectively. These three models, along with the CR-V and Accord, are all leading sellers of their respective segments.
Whilst the majority of vehicles were sold in the Peninsula, East Malaysia sales nevertheless enjoyed a significant upswing, rising from 1,814 units sold in the first half of 2014 to 2,390 this year.
In an effort to increase market share in Sabah and Sarawak while ensuring customer satisfaction, Honda Malaysia plans to add three more dealerships in East Malaysia to its existing 10 dealerships by the end of this year. Recently, the company established East Malaysia Centralized Distribution Centres (logistic hub) to further strengthen and support the operations in the region. In addition, plans to open a regional office, training facilities and a parts warehouse are also in the pipeline.
Nationwide, Honda plans to further strengthen its network across the country with an aim to grow from its existing 82 dealerships to 90 by 2016. This is in line with the company’s ambition to surpass the 100,000-unit annual sales threshold by then.
Whilst maintaining its aim to secure 12 percent of TIV with 85,000 vehicle sales, Honda Malaysia is nevertheless cautious on the market’s overall prospects for the rest of the year, revising its TIV forecast for 2015 to 670,000 units which is 3.9% lower than the original forecast of 697,000 units. The reduction was due to the weakening Ringgit, implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and petrol price fluctuation that have caused weak market sentiment.
