Honda Malaysia achieves 50% growth, top non-national pass. car brand in 2014 – 85k target for 2015

2015_Honda_CR-V_2.4_4WD_facelift_Malaysia_ 062

At the launch of the facelifted Honda CR-V yesterday, Honda Malaysia (HM) announced that its 2014 sales grew by 50% year-on-year – from 51,550 units in 2013 to 77,485 units, beating the 76k target that sounded ambitious when it was first announced.

That huge jump propelled Honda to be the top non-national passenger car brand in Malaysia for the first time ever. Taking into account pick-up trucks (which Honda doesn’t have), the H brand is second only to Toyota in total non-national vehicle sales, and is fourth overall. Honda is also the biggest gainer in 2014, commanding an estimated 11.6% market share, a 3.7% bigger slice of the pie compared to 2013.

Powering the growth is the new Honda City sedan and Jazz hatchback, launched in March and July respectively. Combined, the B-segment platform siblings contributed nearly 70% to Honda’s 2014 sales. The company is also claiming leadership in the D-segment sedan and mid-size SUV classes, thanks to the Accord and pre-facelift CR-V.

Powering growth will be the just-launched CR-V facelift and the much-anticipated HR-V

It’s all in the plan. “Three years ago, Honda Malaysia set a mid-term strategy to elevate our business to 100,000 units and started our preparation for enhancing the competitiveness of our products, increasing production capacity and expanding our dealer network,” said HM’s MD and CEO Yoichiro Ueno.

Looking forward, HM is setting an 85k target for 2015 based on its own estimated total industry volume of 697k – not far away from Malaysian Automotive Institute’s 700k forecast. Growth will be underpinned by the CR-V facelift and much-anticipated HR-V compact SUV, launching next month. HM also has plans to expand its network to 90 dealers by 2016 from the current 77.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • azhar on Jan 22, 2015 at 10:51 am

    good!..must teach UMW a lesson once in a while..dont be so greedy to customers

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 69 Thumb down 5
    • Ah Beng Kia on Jan 22, 2015 at 1:22 pm

      Facts and figures don’t lie. You can call me fanboi/salesman etc but the number don’t lie.

      All the stupid kimchi Hyundai can go and chiak sai

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 16
      • Same L0rrrr on Jan 22, 2015 at 4:09 pm

        Yes, you are right. As I always said, you won’t go wrong with sushi cars.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 9
      • Maserati(Official) on Jan 22, 2015 at 4:13 pm

        Where is Najib’s promise to reduce car prices by 30%? We have been waiting now nearly 2 years after the elections. Looks like Najib has lied to all his BN voters. Truly, UMNO and BN cannot be trusted.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 17
      • Maserati(Official) on Jan 22, 2015 at 5:13 pm

        You may talk big but all I see is Hyundai Elantra everywhere. I hardly see Civic and Altis (2014 models) on the road. I am beginning not to trust Honda figures.

        Honda is known to lie.

        I do agree about B segment. Honda is King.

        But C segment and D segment, Honda kaput la

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 15
        • BLT_CLUB on Jan 22, 2015 at 9:58 pm

          Kejap puking kerajaan, Kejap kutuk kerajaan. Make up your mind la Bro. Jangan jadik lalang.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 2
        • BLT_CLUB on Jan 22, 2015 at 9:58 pm

          Kejap puji kerajaan, Kejap kutuk kerajaan. Make up your mind la Bro. Jangan jadik lalang.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
    • Jimmy on Jan 22, 2015 at 1:39 pm

      Congratulations.
      6-airbags + ESP.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 1
  • Good job Honda! As long as you don’t skim on safety, your product will still be desirable, unlike UMW Toyota which is resting on its laurel….
    Now just do get carried away with your success and start absurb pricing. Price it down to earth esp the coming HRV pls.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 39 Thumb down 3
    • Maserati(Official) on Jan 22, 2015 at 5:17 pm

      Today all the UMW salesman go home crying. All lazy bums, do nothing in the showroom.

      Now buying Toyota in Malaysia people laugh at you. No VSC and nothing. Tin kosong.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 5
  • Contender on Jan 22, 2015 at 10:55 am

    Well Honda Malaysia is on a roll with their current models only Civic is doing great but maybe C-segment overall is not as big as the B-segment of City, VIOS etc while people moved from B-segment to D segment Accord, Camry, Teana etc next to see is the HRV pricing now that CRV starts from 139k …. Looks like most likey 119k onwards ? Hopefully I’m wrong when they sell at 109 basic and full spec at 119 perhaps ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 11
    • Cross over fanatic on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:38 am

      Actually even $119k is already over priced considering CRV (the 4WD version) vs Accord has almost the same pricing when comparing similar engines (ignore the cheapest Accord version). CRV 2.0L and 2.4L are $150k and $170k respectively, vs Accord 2.0L and 2.4L at $150k and $169k respectively.

      So, the highest spec HRV logically shouldn’t be more expensive than 1.8L Civic, which is at $113.8k. If it is near $120k, I wouldn’t mind adding a little over 10% more and go for CX5 instead.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 3
      • Maserati(Official) on Jan 22, 2015 at 5:08 pm

        Honda Accord and CRV in the US only cost USD$20,000 for the 2.5 engines. Both CBU Japan, higher spec than what we get. Both cars have 9 airbags. But here we pay RM180,000 for lower spec cars. Why is the Government cheating us?

        MAI and MAA are the biggest crooks to support high car prices.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 7
        • ANonymous on Apr 09, 2015 at 2:42 am

          Lol. The Accord and CR-V sold in the U.S. are made in N. Am. Don’t have 9 airbags. Get your facts straight first.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Congratz Honda.

      B-segment 2014 sales comparison:

      1. Nissan Almera = 46xxx units
      2. Toyota Vios = 42xxx units
      3. Honda City = 36xxx units.
      4. Honda Jazz = 12xxx units.

      Well, we can imagine almost no people is buying Suprima and Preve.

      on the other side, this Top Passenger Car sales is misleading. It exclude MPV, Pickup or Van.
      in this case, Ford Annual sales would be less than 5000units in Malaysia.

      All in All, Toyota is more than Honda by about 25% in Malaysia.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 32
      • BeemerFreak on Jan 22, 2015 at 12:36 pm

        Still so many idiots buying the vios……….

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 10
      • Almera on Jan 22, 2015 at 12:36 pm

        Up until November 2014 Nissan sold a total of 37,288 vehicles including commercial vehicles. Where did you get the 46,000 Almera figure??

        MAA will separate the sales figure of passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle annually so whats misleading about it?? The fact is for the first time Honda overtook Toyota in terms of passenger vehicle sales which is a good message to UMW to stop messing around with consumers in terms of safety and specs or they would come to regret it.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 1
      • kzm (Member) on Jan 22, 2015 at 12:51 pm

        passenger car (PC) include MPV and Van…pick-up truck fall under commercial vehicle (CV)..

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
      • IrizX on Jan 22, 2015 at 2:44 pm

        Sales figure plucked from air. All wrong.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
      • Green on Jan 22, 2015 at 5:07 pm

        refer here:

        1. http://paultan.org/2015/01/12/malaysia-automotive-institute-2014-2015-review-insight/mai_14_15_review_-007/

        2. http://paultan.org/2015/01/12/malaysia-automotive-institute-2014-2015-review-insight/mai_14_15_review_-006/

        Almera not 46,000 units.
        but nissan is 46,000units.

        almera sales figure any time less than 40,000 units.

        Vios is the King of B-Segment in Sales Volume.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2
        • BeenerFreak on Jan 22, 2015 at 6:05 pm

          Vios is a car for idiots….pay so much to get an empty Tim can.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 3
    • Civic is quite the flop of the current Honda batch.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 5
  • ronnard on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:05 am

    you know what? Honda Malaysia totally deserves this. They have been pretty consistent with their products and their cars, although priced high, it isn’t unreasonable considering what their cars come fitted with these days for our local market. Compared to the jerks at UMW Toyota extorting as much profit(even higher than Honda of course) from uneducated Malaysian buyers by pricing their cars as high as possible but stripping as much safety features and creature comforts as possible. Honda Malaysia deserves to take over the top sales position compared to UMW Toyota.. UMW needs to taste their medicine in 2015. Only then, Toyota buyers in Malaysia will FINALLY get what they paid for.. Not just scrap metal on wheels.
    I’m happy that Camry sales have plummet even with the ridiculous launch of the 2.0GX. (what the heck is the 2.0G still doing in the line up?) UMW better offer proper safety features on the facelift.
    Also happy to know that Vios sales has dropped after the launch of the City. And good to know that the Altis sales has dropped too with all the HEALTHY COMPETITION around offering well spec-ed cars at a reasonable price.

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 71 Thumb down 5
    • Maserati(Official) on Jan 22, 2015 at 5:15 pm

      Now UMW salesman are lower than dogs. They virtually beg you to buy their cars when you go into their showroom. Unlike those days, they don’t layan you and smoke in a group outside the glassdoor showroom. Complete ignore you.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 28 Thumb down 0
      • Ronnard on Jan 22, 2015 at 10:10 pm

        It’s quite true I suppose.. There was once back in 2012 when I just walked into the showroom because I was trying to prove to my dad who was 53 that the Camry isn’t worth the money (he used to own a 2005 Camry which never broke down in it’s lifetime).. I asked the salesman why only 2 airbags and no Stability Control in the Camry (just for kicks).. His reply was the most “creative” I must say. This is what he had to say : “Camry isn’t a sports car. So people don’t usually race with the car. The likelyhood of a side impact is very rare.” Kononnya……. I rolled my eyes and loled inside…

        Truth of the matter is, my dad bought the damn scrap metal on wheels regardless..

        And that’s how UMW bullies their buyers. My dad who has no education about modern car safety technology is a perfect example of how UMW shows ZERO with a big fat 0 no respect and care for their loyal customers.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 27 Thumb down 0
  • toyota on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:05 am

    stupid honda… i got TRD hilux now.. honda u got no pickup..once flood..byebye lah..hahahahaha..
    joke of the day..

    honda keeping up. bring it back the type R with rear double wishbond. not tosion ot multi link.and the vtec not tune for fuel saving..tune for blannnggg

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 47
    • IrizX on Jan 22, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      Bodohness unlimited. The Honda City 2014 is certified EEV car. Your Toyota got???

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 1
  • Protonana on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:07 am

    Honda sales in 2014.
    70% is Honda City and Jazz.

    Best selling B-class sedan and hatch back..
    Honda City and Jazz.

    Best selling Rm 70,000 to Rm 80,000 car..
    also Honda City and Jazz.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 13
    • Protonana on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:14 am

      Did Proton Rm 70k to 80k so calles global car included in Proton best selling car??
      No!!!

      As Same Lorrr said sales figure will tell everything.
      Proton so call global car,but terrible quality and so so unreliable junk people dont want.
      Preve,Suprima and Iriz.
      Very very hard to sell.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 16
  • ProtonGSC on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:12 am

    Congratulations and please don’t be the next UMW “too proud and arrogant”.

    MAI still a piece of shit.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 2
  • heybadigol (Member) on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:13 am

    Thats good to hear. But seriously, Honda cars sell well, no matter who sells them. Honda Malaysia (HM) is rather lucky that Honda US & Honda Japan makes good cars, not the best, but good cars. The only part HM did well was listening to customer feedback, and taking action on them, such as increasing airbag count & reducing prices (for the facelifted Civic). This is something UMW Toyota needs to learn on.

    Now, HM needs to move one step further and improve on the quality control, which has dropped a bit these past few years. And please bring in the new NSX & Acura brand here. Also, for the next Hondas (next up after the HRV, should be the facelifted Accord), please bring in the DI engines. Not asking for turbo engines, but at least consider the DI engines.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 2
    • Littlebear on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:30 am

      Spot on! If Honda do the steps mentioned by you.. I believe the can achieve great sales in years to come.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1
  • Aaron on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:14 am

    Keep up the Good Work ! Please kill UMW and Sam Loo ! Let them regret charging high price for dangerous, unsafe, and low spec cars !

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 31 Thumb down 2
  • takNakP1 on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:19 am

    now i understand why they can strip out feature (i.e. peddle shift & econ mode) and sell more expensive than other country.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Anti-Establishment (Member) on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:23 am

    Well, better Honda than Toyota continually bamboozling Malaysians with lousy Vioses, I must say.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 3
  • Tahniah Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar. We Malaysian are very proud of you, hehehe. I love my honda city 2014

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 12
    • ProtonGSC on Jan 22, 2015 at 12:19 pm

      You’re really proud of him? For changing heavy taxes on Rakyat???

      Even MAI the sole damn department to be blame.

      Cronies gain wealthiest and Rakyat keep paying debts and loans for our life.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 5
  • Abu Sayur on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:25 am

    P1 and P2 must be crying

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 3
  • UMW Toyota shall start to sell small Truck only aka their Hilux. That said.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 1
  • seancorr (Member) on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:39 am

    Well Honda did deserve it for they launch passenger cars which have way better spec than the bare bones Toyota age old cars and I hope they will stay this way while Toyota rots somewhere beside some longkang if they decided not to follow the industry standard.

    I think they will continue to roll for the rest of this year with the HRV launch coming next and possibly the hybrid versions of the Jazz and City later this year.

    But with all praises comes the negative part – my previous vehicle was a Honda and being a brand new vehicle it had poor QC issues and Honda cars were always poor on the NVH side of it. Lastly, please do not think that all customers will want to get the biggest engine (2.4l Accord, CRV), there are other customers who want a smaller engine with good spec list (6 air bags, GPS, etc).

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 22 Thumb down 1
  • noreasonwhy on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:45 am

    Listen up, UMW.

    Put your Customers first, shareholders third – Jack Ma

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 1
  • Just dun be the next Toyota

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 1
  • Steve Jobs on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:47 am

    meanwhile… UMW with their 2 airbags.owh wai.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 1
  • kranjcar on Jan 22, 2015 at 11:58 am

    Congurats honda.. it will be great if honda can build a pick up 4×4 vehicle…sure honda sales will increase sharply

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • cendol (Member) on Jan 22, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    If HOnda sales go up, Proton sales will go down
    Soon new law will be introduced to protect Proton From Honda.
    If cannot win by fair means, can win by unfair means

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 5
  • azrai on Jan 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    That’s why DRB-HICOM don’t even bother about the numbers of Iriz on the road. the Honda’s already make a big profit for them which chunk out from their Pegoh plant.

    P/S:- Sam Loo…Where are you…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
  • If honda can give 6airbags , VSA as standard across the range, the sales sure can get better.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 1
  • Krasher on Jan 22, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    Congrats. But please don’t strip out paddle shift/sun roof for the high spec compared with the Thai neighbor.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • MatrixLyn on Jan 22, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    Congrats to Honda!

    Was comparing Vios, Almera, Attrage and City last year when hunting for wife’s new car. Tested all the car and compared all the specs. The City simply beats them all in almost every area, FC, safety, spaciousness, legrooms, performance (yes, acceleration way better than all the other’s despite being CVT! The new Earthdream CVT is a huge jump!), resale value, design etc.

    For the same price, i don’t see why you should choose any other cars at all. The Almera maybe the cheapest, but if compare the same specs range (minimum 2 airbags), it’s no cheaper than City or Vios….furthermore it’s so ugly, you will need to pay extra RM3K for that modulus kit to make it looks acceptable…no kidding. Wife really said that. Whatever wife said, jangan persoal.
    :D

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 1
  • Honda product is acceptable, no consider expensive and cheap but in the middle, not like other brand, the design is backward, sonata and camry is the good example, Accord had fresh design, City and Jazz just so so, HRV may be a under power car but expensive, let consumer to decide your market share, well done HONDA, will visit Honda Collection Hall in Tokyo soon, see u there.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • nabill (Member) on Jan 22, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    sales of city n jazz helped honda’s cause no doubt,
    Bt frm personal experience of having owned an honda accord previously(7 yrs ago) , i can definitely see a drop in quality which is very evident in the interiors..plastics getting thinner n more flimsy… Yess they had to compete in the lower end segment n price their cars competitivly, bt call me old school, but hondas of mid 2000s are definitely better made than current generations….my opinion anyway… But good job to them, they are offering things that are attractive,

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
    • IrizX on Jan 23, 2015 at 7:52 am

      The same goes for Toyota…you think toyota any better?? The VIOS has a zink atap rooftop until so many people complain then only they fix it…a lot of VIOS owner probably still on waiting list to fix the rooftop.

      Toyota today is no more the quality of the Corolla back in 2000. Those old Corolla have quality, no argument there.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • blaster88 on Jan 22, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    I sure hope UMW is reading the above comments. Assuming if this is the voice of the majority, UMW is in deep trouble!!! Power of the internet and consumer. Yea…UMW Toyotas are daylight robbery! High price low specs esp safety. Congrats to Honda!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 1
  • Really on Jan 23, 2015 at 11:57 pm

    No wonder UMW is giving huge CNY discounts for the Vios and Camry. I heard there are 2014 stocks still available. Looks like the only good selling model for UMW now is the Hilux. Because the discount is much less than other models.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • neo6768 on Feb 02, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    This reminds me of an old story.
    In fact it was the hallmark rivalry between an used to be the arrogant # 1 versus humble # 2 car sellers in the history of Malaysia automobile industry, i.e. Proton versus Perodua.
    2014 celebrated the 9th year in consecutive, please read carefully, it was consecutive 9 years Perodua has beaten Proton to be number 1 best seller in Malaysia and the cynical fact is the sales gap between the two rivals have grown even bigger to 79,796 units in 2014, which was 6,650 units per month or 220 unit per days (based on average 30 days a month)!
    No matter how rich is Sam Lorr, I don’t suppose he alone can even fill the gap by himself, let alone all the hard core supporters!
    Hello, Proton hard core supporters, where are you when your Proton sales are plunging into historical low?
    Not buying any new Iriz or Preve and modify it kau kau and drive like madman so that you can endanger yourself and those on the road?
    I used to drove Kancil and Myvi and now moving to Honda City (one generation older than the new one but with VSA).
    With recent new addition from Mazda 2 into B-segment, it promotes even healthier competition within this segment because it’s the second model to offer stability control in B-segment car after Honda City.
    New Mazda 2 sedan has stability control as standard feature, called Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). Though it does not have lower spec to price at lower price but if you can afford a RM90K car, why should you risk your life on something that is expensive to buy and it does not protect you and your loved one?
    Though new Honda City highest spec still beats all its rivalries in its segment if I do not make myself clear.
    Not even a RM136K Toyota Altis V spec has 6 airbags as standard feature, you will need to add another RM3K for these 4 additional airbags (but I called it day time robbery).
    None of the 1.8 spec Toyota Altis has stability control, which already costs you between RM116K to RM119K.
    Unless of course, you can afford a RM136K v spec Toyota Altis.
    If I go on, a RM150K (2.0E) to RM160K (2.0G) Toyota Camry only has 2 airbags.
    That’s how Toyota values your life, I mean your life is worthless to Toyota if you want me to shout it loud out at your face, when you are paying dearly for a “branded Japanese” car?
    In case you do not agree with me the importance of stability control of a car nowadays, please Paul’s article yourself at http://paultan.org/2012/06/27/esp-stability-control-is-a-must-malaysian-motorists-deserve-better-active-safety-in-their-cars/.
    I cannot be more straight forward than I can be than writing the above.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
 

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