Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. charted its highest ever sales last year, delivering a total of 109,511 units of cars. Not only that, the company has retained it’s Number 1 position for the Non-National segment for the third consecutive year and maintained its Number 2 position in overall TIV (Total Industry Volume) for the second year running.
Since Honda Malaysia set foot in Malaysia in 2003, the company has sold more than 730,000 cars over the span of 14 years. Last year was also the first time Honda Malaysia has achieved sales of more than 100,000 units and the highest that a Non-National brand has ever achieved in Malaysia.
Despite the challenging market climate in 2017, overall sales for the Japanese carmaker has increased by 19 percent compared to the previous year. December 2017 was the best month with 11,221 units sold. As of 2017, the brand’s market share stands at 19 percent, up 3.2 points from 2016.
The City emerged as Honda’s best-selling model, contributing 27 percent to total sales, followed by the HR-V at 17 percent, BR-V at 16 percent and Civic at 14 percent. The Jazz and City Sport Hybrid duo also delivered remarkable results, with contributing two percent to the total sales despite being on sale for only four months. As it stands, all CKD models from Honda Malaysia are Number 1 in their respective segment.
In 2017, Honda Malaysia launched eight new models (all-new and refreshed included) – BR-V, City facelift, Jazz facelift, City Sport Hybrid, Jazz Sport Hybrid, Accord with Honda Sensing, all-new CR-V and all-new Civic Type R (FK8R). Malaysia is also the first country outside of Japan to launch and assemble the City and Jazz Sport Hybrid.
Moving on to market penetration, Honda Malaysia has grown its presence in East Malaysia with more than 7,500 units delivered to customers in 2017, an increase of 33 percent compared to 2016. The seven-seater BR-V was the best-selling model in East Malaysia.
In 2017, Honda Malaysia serviced more than 1,150,000 vehicles, up 13 percent compared the previous year. The company also introduced Honda Pride, a campaign to create awareness amongst Honda customers on the benefits of aftersales services from Honda Malaysia. Twelve specially designed benefits such as 5-Years warranty with unlimited mileage, genuine parts and comfortable dealer showroom were structured to deliver top-notch quality after sales services to Honda customers.
Managing Director and CEO of Honda Malaysia, Mr. Toichi Ishiyama said, “Honda Malaysia achieved outstanding sales achievement in 2017, and we dedicate this milestone year that we have experienced to all our customers, business partners, dealers and Honda associates. It has been an exciting year for Honda and the outstanding results we achieved would not have been possible without the strong support of all Malaysians and the Malaysian Government.”
“Reflectively, we are pleased to note that with the maturing Malaysian market, customers responded well to the various Next Generation Advanced Technologies we introduced such as Honda SENSING, Turbo and Sport Hybrid i-DCD. The Sport Hybrid i-DCD made history during their introductions as Malaysia is the only country outside of Japan to introduce the technology. It was also the most affordable Hybrid to be introduced in the market. Honda was also the first brand to introduce the SENSING technology into mass models such as the CR-V and New Accord. Ultimately, we strive to bring the joy of ownership to all our customers,” concluded Mr. Ishiyama.
