Honda Malaysia hits 600,000-unit production milestone

Honda Malaysia hits 600,000-unit production milestone

Earlier today, Honda Malaysia announced that its local assembly operations had reached a historical milestone with the production of its 600,000th unit at its Pegoh plant in Alor Gajah, Malacca.

The milestone was celebrated at an event in the plant, which began operations in January 2003 with the assembly of CR-V, City, Civic and Accord models on its No.1 Line. Production capacity of the plant was 50,000 units a year, and in the first 11 years of operation, production at Pegoh amounted to 300,000 units.

The introduction of a second line in Oct 2013 – which was officially commissioned in January 2014 – doubled output, and the move to a two-shift production later that year further spurred the jump in the build numbers, according to Honda Malaysia MD and CEO Katsuto Hayashi.

“We achieved 300,000 production units in just three years as compared to 11 years taken earlier to reach the first 300,000 units,” he said. The 600,000th vehicle that rolled out of the No.2 Line was a facelifted City model.

Honda Malaysia hits 600,000-unit production milestone

Today, both assembly lines have a combined production capacity of 100,000 units per annum, and produce seven models (Accord, City, Civic, CR-V, Jazz, HR-V and BR-V) for the local market. Line one builds the new Civic, Accord and CR-V as well as the City, which is also assembled at the second line alongside the Jazz, HR-V and BR-V.

The automaker said that the Pegoh complex – which sits on 748,668 sq ft of land area and has a built-up area of 128,837 sq ft – has a flexible production capacity that can produce multiple models at the same time, enabling the company to meet market demands and limit the waiting period for customers when there is a surge in bookings for certain models.

For example, it said the waiting period for the BR-V is only one to two months long despite there being nearly close to 10,000 bookings so far for the SUV, which is 12 times of its monthly sales target. It added that the waiting period for all Honda models is now just one to two months on average.

Some of the latest technologies applied at Pegoh – which has a staff count of 3,262 personnel as of January 2017 – include an automated smart general welding machine for improved body frame production as well as an international standard painting facility comprising wall-mounted spray robots, which help ensure better spray pattern control, a more precise coating thickness and inproved paint consumption.

The facility also has a custom-built 2.1 km-long test course that puts every vehicle that comes out of the production line through a road test to ensure they meet the necessary quality and defined standards.

Built over six months in 2012 at a cost of RM7.1 milion, the small test track benchmarks Malaysian roads and features seven types of surfaces (hump, wavy, up/down, cobble stone, Belgian, pothole and slippery roads) and trials acceleration, braking and transmission-related aspects during vehicle testing. Every dynamic verification takes around seven minutes to complete.

Aside from the production facilities, Pegoh has three pre-delivery inspection yards, which handles inspection and car preparation as well as storage and delivery aspectes. The first, completed in June 2012, has a 2,500 unit capacity, while the second, completed in Nov 2013, is able to accomodate 1,350 units. The newest, Yard 3, which came into service in August 2015, is also the biggest, and can handle 8,690 units.

Also present at the event today were Seiji Kuraishi, the executive vice president, executive officer and representative director of Honda Motor and Noriaki Abe, COO of regional operations (Asia & Oceania), Honda Motor. Abe also holds the office of president and CEO of Asian Honda Motor.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • Albert Yong on Mar 30, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    This shows how hard work pays off. Honda Malaysia follow Japanese thinking of hardwork.

    Our other companies follow the lepak culture. Like to relax, minum teh and makan vadai 8x a day.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 18
  • RIP Toyota

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • Honda No.1 on Mar 30, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    Wow! A big applause to Honda.
    No.1 for Non National beating Toyota.
    No.2 from overall beating Proton.
    Now 600k production for 14 years operation.
    Later will be 100k sales in 1 years.

    Wow, wow, wow again!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 11
    • Toyota/P2 salesmen r crying now.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
    • AutoFrenz (the original) on Mar 30, 2017 at 9:58 pm

      Honda…low cost cars for the masses…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 3
      • Honda No.1 on Mar 31, 2017 at 6:03 pm

        So you think your high cost BM/Merc Continental is high quality? Or just same quality with high price??

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2
    • Macai kilang honda on Apr 02, 2017 at 4:21 pm

      They already sold 100k units of cars last year..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Not Toyota Fan on Mar 30, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    Congrats Honda. Foresee many more milestones ahead for you. However, perhaps it is time to tighten up QC. There are many minor complains from new Honda owners, mainly from poor assembly QC. It’s time for this facility to improve and upgrade another step in the assembly QC. Quality has always been a Japanese workman pride and this should now be practiced at Pagoh facility.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • Aero (Member) on Mar 30, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    Congrats Honda Malaysia/ HMSB on reaching the 600,000 milestone !

    At the current rate, HMSB will reach the 1 million mark as soon as 2020, (or around 2022 if UMWT bounces back).

    Not many Malaysians know this, but Malaysia is actually one of the first countries to assemble Honda cars outside Japan. The first Honda to be built here is the small Honda N360 in 1969. It was assembled with imported CKD kits at the Capital Motor Assembly plant in Tampoi, Johor.

    Honda cars didn’t sell as well as Datsun and Toyota (or even Colt/ Mitsubishi) cars initially, but Honda motorcycles (kapcais) were selling very well in Malaysia at the time (1960s). This was mainly because Honda started out as a motorcycle company, and they were late to the 4-wheel party.

    Sales of Honda motorcycles in Malaysia was handled by Boon Siew Honda, founded by the late Dato Loh Boon Siew. I highly recommend reading more about the story of Boon Siew Honda, it’s truly inspirational and praiseworthy.

    The strong demand for Honda kapcais led to the construction of a dedicated Honda motorcycle assembly plant in Butterworth in 1969. If I’m not mistaken, this original plant still stands today. In 2013, Boon Siew Honda built a second plant at Batu Kawan.

    Back to Honda cars, which by the 1980s had become quite popular thanks to Kah Motor and Oriental Holdings (affiliates of Boon Siew). Oriental even bought out the Tampoi plant (from General Motors) in around 1980, and renamed it Oriental Assemblers (OASB).

    The OASB plant assembled a whole range of Honda cars, including the City, Civic, Accord, and even the huge Legend 3.2L. If I’m not mistaken, Honda was the no.2 non-national brand in Malaysia sometime during the 1990s.

    But Kah Motor had their downsides. Compared to the CKD Nissan and Toyota cars, CKD Hondas were known to have more quality control and reliability issues. Also, Kah Motor did not entertain people who bought recond Hondas. They even forced customers to buy optional extras and whatnot just because they could.

    Naturally, Honda Japan was not pleased with all of this, so in around the early 2000s, Honda Japan formally establish themselves in Malaysia (previously, all Honda operations here were contracted to local partners).

    The result was DRB-Oriental-Honda (DOH), and the construction of a dedicated Honda car assembly plant in Melaka. Honda Japan has the largest stake in DOH (49%), and the remainder is split between DRB-HICOM and Oriental. DOH was later renamed Honda Malaysia (HMSB).

    For most of the 2000s, Honda Malaysia performed modestly, but operations rapidly grew after Mr. Yoichiro Ueno joined the team in 2011. By 2014, HMSB had overtaken UMW Toyota in total sales volume. This is a highly commendable achievement, because Honda is extremely weak in commercial vehicles (Honda has no Hilux rival).

    Anyway, this is just a brief history of Honda in Malaysia. There are many other details not mentioned above. Thanks for reading, and my best wishes to HMSB.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 37 Thumb down 1
  • HondaRocks on Mar 30, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    All Honda Malaysia employees must be proud of 600K milestone achievement. Good job Honda for delivering cars that Malaysians want.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Francis Lim on Mar 31, 2017 at 12:20 am

    Wow! Now that’s a great achievement for Honda Malaysia. Where are you, Proton? Are you awake or still sleeping?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 3
    • Honda & Proton is abg adek. So both benefits. Unlike Toyota/P2 now…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 4
  • Wee fuk yew on Mar 31, 2017 at 4:18 am

    Despite contributing the bulk of honda sales in asean, the pegoh plant remains as a CKD assembly facility.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
    • Not Toyota Fan on Mar 31, 2017 at 11:45 am

      Msia contribute the bulk of Honda sales in ASEAN? See here: Year2016 Sales. (1) Indonesia 190,229 (2) Thailand 107,342 (3) Msia 91,830 (4) Philippines 23,199 (5) Vietnam 11,501 (6) Singapore 7,067 (7) Brunei+Cambodia+Laos 664.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Mikey on Mar 31, 2017 at 8:31 am

    Congratulation to Honda for setting the 600,000 units milestone. Lets hope with the milestone, U will continue to improve the services/quality & reduce the price bcos with numbers/quantity, U have the economic of scale to reduce the prices further.

    It will be a win win game for both Honda (M) & Rakyat. When U sell more cars, U also earn more from parts & servicing. What say U Honda ?? I know U can do BETTER

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • john is otak batu on Mar 31, 2017 at 9:34 am

    I hope more of this “type” of prospect plant in our country for more rakyat…. at least 4x! Not “deadwood” plant!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
    • I hope to see less of these. We shud aim for higher tech brands/models (like EV) or precision manufacturing that requires high skill workforce. We shud leave the low level assembly monkeyjobs to tomyam instead. They seem happy to do the same exact thing for 40 years.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 4
      • So, what you can come out new from your work daily? or u yourself also just repeat same job everyday & taking plain salary!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • Honda Ichiban on Mar 31, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    A true reflection that you can be successful if you must have a good working culture and a vision of the auto market. It’s the right people and mindset that drive the company to be successful. Other local auto players can learn a lesson them and stop whining.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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