Effective at the time this story is published, most of the Honda cars will see a slight reduction in their road-going prices when the 6 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) kicks in, replacing the current 10 percent Sales and Services Tax (SST).
Honda Malaysia’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr Yoichiro Ueno explains, “In the automotive industry, the difference in car prices isn’t as simple as 10 percent minus 6 percent as there are many factors involved. The main difference in tax calculation is the difference in taxable base for SST and GST.”
Ueno further elaborated, saying that the SST was only paid at the first stage of the supply chain, meaning from manufacturer to distributor, which excludes dealer margins, logistic cost, handling fee, accessories and other distribution costs. GST on the other hand, is charged at every transaction down the same supply chain and will be based on the final selling price of the car on the road.
The table below shows the prices of Honda cars before and after GST. All CKD models see a price reduction between RM500 to RM2,500, while the fully imported Odyssey is the only model in the list to see a price hike between RM500 to RM1,000. Do note that the table below is based on pricing for Peninsular Malaysia only.
| Model | Variant | OTR Price with SST | OTR Price with GST | Price difference |
| 1.5L Grade S | RM 72,813.50 | RM 71,774.80 | – RM 1,038.70 | |
| 1.5L Grade E | RM 79,813.50 | RM 78,756.80 | – RM 1,056.70 | |
| 1.5L Grade V | RM 87,813.50 | RM 86,985.70 | – RM 827.80 | |
| 1.5L Grade S | RM 75,813.50 | RM 74,007.50 | – RM 1,806.00 | |
| 1.5L Grade S+ | RM 78,813.50 | RM 77,124.40 | – RM 1,689.10 | |
| 1.5L Grade E | RM 83,813.50 | RM 82,269.50 | – RM 1,544.00 | |
| 1.5L Grade V | RM 90,813.50 | RM 89,467.80 | – RM 1,345.70 | |
| 1.8L Grade S | RM 99,815.30 | RM 98,690.40 | – RM 1,124.90 | |
| 1.8L Grade E | RM 108,815.30 | RM 108,027.10 | – RM 788.20 | |
| 1.8L Grade V | RM 118,815.30 | RM 118,229.10 | – RM 586.20 | |
| 1.8L Grade S | RM 113,815.30 | RM 113,198.70 | – RM 616.60 | |
| 2.0L Grade S | RM 125,815.30 | RM 124,780.30 | – RM 1,035.00 | |
| 2.0L Navi | RM 132,815.30 | RM 132,210.70 | – RM 604.60 | |
| 2.0L 2WD | RM 139,815.30 | RM 138,069.70 | – RM 1,745.60 | |
| 2.0L 4WD | RM 150,815.30 | RM 149,152.40 | – RM 1,662.90 | |
| 2.4L 4WD | RM 169,817.10 | RM 167,887.80 | – RM 1,929.30 | |
|
Accord |
2.0L VTi | RM 139,830.60 | RM 137,301.90 | – RM 2,528.70 |
| 2.0L VTi-L | RM 149,830.60 | RM 148,200.60 | – RM 1,630.00 | |
| 2.4L VTi-L | RM 174,834.20 | RM 173,386.60 | – RM 1,447.60 | |
| 2.4L EX | RM 228,023.00 | RM 229,030.60 | + RM 1,007.60 | |
| 2.4L EXV | RM 248,023.00 | RM 248,536.00 | + RM 513.00 |
Furthering Ueno’s point earlier, the price reduction is not as straightforward as reducing the 4 percent difference created when the SST is replaced by GST. Instead, the difference is due to varying levels of features and accessories that come with the cars, and this is what’s causing the prices to be different. All things considered, Honda Malaysia claims that all savings from GST will be passed down to their customers in the form of cheaper locally assembled cars.
Meanwhile, Honda Malaysia recorded their best sales performance of yet, charting over 9,000 units sold in the month of March alone. That’s more than 10 percent of the 85,000 units they aimed to sell this year. They have collectively sold 21,563 units in the first quarter this year, an increase of 38 percent over the same period last year.
This achievement was strongly driven by the positive reception of the City, Jazz, Civic, Accord, CR-V and HR-V; all of which are segment leaders to date. Early last month, Honda Malaysia announced that the HR-V had a waiting list of four months with over 7,000 units booked, but that figure has risen to 10,000 units now. Works to maximise the HR-V’s production capacity are well underway, we’re told.
