Petaling Jaya, 22 April 2009 - Despite the tensed market condition, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd today announced that its March sales have hit an all time high with 3,905 units, equivalent to 55% of increase year-on-year. The breakthrough achievement also means that Honda had captured 10% of the Total Industry Volume (TIV) market share (passenger vehicles) in March as reported by Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) recently.

"In view of the current market situation, it is truly a momentous experience for us to be reporting a series of vibrant results, in fact, from the beginning of the year. And for that, we have no one else to thank but our supportive customers," remarked Mr. Toru Takahashi, the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

All-New City

All-New City

New Civic (2009)

"At Honda, we constantly adhere to our principle of providing products of the highest quality at a reasonable price, which makes our products relevant to the market regardless of the surrounding circumstances. And we are pleased to learn that, given the circumstances, consumers are reconsidering their priorities when purchasing a car. Brand credibility and product reliability are more crucial now. They want to be assured that the car they buy today would not become a liability in the near future," he expounded further.

New Civic (2009)

Although the market is continuously challenged by uncertainties, Honda managed to register a 46% growth quarter-on-quarter despite the market contraction. As reported by MAA recently, the market has shrunk by 10.5% in the same corresponding period.
Honda Malaysia attributes the breakthrough sales result to the All-New City with 2,342 units, which account for 60% of the total sales. In fact, the model has a backorder of close to 4,000 units currently. Other staple contributors are Accord (479 units), Civic (471 units) and CR-V (346 units).

Following the introduction of the enhanced 8^th Generation Civic last month, Honda Malaysia is hopeful for more robust months ahead. The multiple awards winning 8^th Generation Civic already attracted more than 1,500 bookings nationwide in less than one month.

In order to cope with the exciting market demand, Honda Malaysia continues to produce at full capacity with an increase in City and Civic's output. This move will effectively shorten the customers' waiting period, which is part of Honda's continuous effort to achieve Number One in Customer Satisfaction.

Figure 1: Total sales breakdown by models for the month of March, 2009.