Published on 21/05/2014
Honda banks on new bikes Company confident of meeting sales target Despite falling sales in the first four months, AP Honda Co, the distributor of Honda motorcycles in Thailand, is maintaining its sales target at 1.4 million units this year, thanks mainly to its plans to launch new models throughout 2014. “Introducing new products, including those with minor changes, is the only way to stimulate customers into making a buying decision,� said Suchart Arunsaengroj, director of AP Honda. "We are committed to launching 12 new models between 2014 and 2016.� Over the first four months, AP Honda reported sales of 445,832 units, down 15.7% from the same period last year. The fall was in line with the overall motorcycle market where sales fell 21.6% to 562,942. AP Honda reported sales last year of 1.49 million, up by 0.54% from 2012. This year, it forecasts sales of about 1.4 million, down by 6% from 2013. Thailand's overall motorcycle sales are expected to stay below 1.85 million this year, down 7.68% from 2 million in 2013, which was a fall of 5.92% from 2.13 million in 2012. The political turmoil has hit the economy and people's spending sentiment, while a delay in payments under the rice-pledging programme has weakened farmers' incomes and purchasing power. However, despite mass market sales shrinking, demand for big bikes and sports motorcycles remains strong, Mr Suchart said. For the first four months, sales in this segment rose 67.7% to 49,264 units. Mr Suchart said overall sales of big bikes with an engine size exceeding 500cc were expected to stay at about 15,000 this year compared with 13,000 in 2013. AP Honda targets sales of 4,000 bikes in this category, up from 3,000 last year. "The premium motorcycle market remains on course for healthy growth despite unfavourable economic prospects and the political stalemate," said Mr Suchart. "Middle- to high-income customers still have high purchasing power."
More importantly, the import duty for Japanese premium motorcycles has decreased annually thanks to the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement. That pact calls for cutting the 30% import tariff on big bikes and their parts by five percentage points a year until it is completely eliminated at the end of 2017. The tariff on imported big bikes from Japan stands at 15-16% this year. Please credit and share this article with others using this.