Honda targets to break sales record this year, with new car

Honda targets to break sales record this year, with new car
Business & Markets 2014
Written by Bernama
Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:11

KUALA LUMPUR (March 20): Honda Malaysia targets to break its sales record this year, with the all-new Honda City, expected to boost the company's overall sales by up to 40 per cent.

For this year, Honda Malaysia targets sales of more than 76,000 units nationwide, with 40 per cent contributed by the City.

To date, Honda Malaysia has registered sales of 145,000 units of the City, with the number expected to increase this year.

Last year, Honda Malaysia sold 51,550 units overall — the highest ever achieved by the company.

For this year the company has increased its market share to 12.8 per cent in January, with 6,400 units sold nationwide.

"We have received 1,800 bookings and our monthly sales target would be 2,500 units, for this new model," Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Yoichiro Ueno, said at the launch of the new Honda City, here today.

Ueno said, the new H-Design, that carries the philosophy of "Man Maximum, Machine Minimum", has enhanced the overall design and performance of the car, to enable it to maintain its top position in the B-segment market.

"The City's current target market, ranges from college students and junior executives, to young adults with families, with four variants offered: the S, S+, E and V," he said.

He noted that the new S and S+ variants are expected to boost this model's sales by 20 per cent to 30 per cent, while the next CKD hybrid variant is under development.

"It will be added in the near future, to expand our CKD hybrid line-up," he said.

Meanwhile, Honda City Large Project Leader, Kazunori Watanabe, said that significant improvements have been made, to maintain the City's top position in the B-segment, with reduced kerb weight and improved aerodynamics.

"The increased fuel efficiency, coupled with outstanding performance and premium safety features, will help it maintain its position, as the best seller," he added.

The basic S variant is priced at RM 75,800 on the road, with insurance, while the S+ goes for RM78,800 and the E for RM83,800. The highest spec V costs RM90,800, with five-year unlimited mileage warranty.

All City variants will be locally-assembled at Honda Malaysia's Melaka factory, according to Ueno.

nice unlimited 5 yr warranty