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MANILA, Philippines - Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) expects sales to recover this year as the Japanese manufacturer's factory in Bangkok resumed operations to supply the Philippine market by June.
At the launch of its "Super CR-V," Tatsuya Natsume, HCPI president and general manager told reporters that Honda's factory in Bangkok will start producing for the Philippines "in a month or two."
"Once Thailand is ready, we will shift supply from Japan to Thailand," Natsume said, adding that its factory in Bangkok resumed operations on March 26.
"We suffered a lot last year because of supply shortage brought about by the earthquake in Japan and the Thai flooding," he said.
The executive said imports from Japan of completely built-up units (CBU) are subject to 20 percent duty as against the zero tariff imposed on imports from Thailand, which along with the Philippines is a member of the Asean Free Trade Area.
Natsume said HCPI is aiming to sell 16,600 units this year. Last month alone, the company sold 1,631 units.
HCPI sold 11,611 units last year, down 30 percent from 2010 levels.
"This is our highest sale in the last 20 months. This shows the continuation of the turnaround of Honda, which started since February. All of the new models of Honda enjoyed full month sales and healthy availability in March, which enabled us to be number one in PC segment for the month of March," he said, referring to the passenger car segment.
In the Philippines, the CR-V is among the trailblazers in the compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment and has received wide market acceptance, the executive said.
Yuishi Fukuda, general manager for Automobile Business Division of Asian Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said the Philippines is the very first country in the Southeast Asian Honda affiliate to launch the Super CR-V, ahead of the other Honda affiliates in the region.
"We acknowledge the fact that the commercial vehicles, particularly the SUV class, have become the most preferred vehicles in the Philippine market today because of its offer of more pulling power, leisure utility and passenger seating capacity. As one of the pioneers of the compact SUV segment in the Philippine market, Honda will remain committed in being one of the market leaders in the SUV segment with the new CR-V," he said.
Fukuda is optimistic about Honda's prospects in the Philippines because of the improved economic outlook in recent months.
"We at Honda believe that the automobile market stands to benefit from this positive trend. And as such, Asian Honda Motor looks forward to providing Honda Cars Philippines with continued support in various forms for them to take initiatives in driving business in this positive economic outlook and contribute to the future growth of the automobile market in the Philippines," Fukuda said.
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