Honda Motor’s ASEAN Sales Decline 8.9% to 417,000 Units in 2019

Honda Motor’s automobile sales volume in ASEAN (six countries) declined 8.9% year-on-year in 2019 to 417,000 units, going down for the second consecutive year. Since the rate of decrease was larger than the market decline as a whole (down 2.1%), Honda’s share fell 0.9pp to 12.1%. The automaker’s best-selling model City dropped prior to the launch of the new fully-redesigned version.

In 2020, due to the impact of the pandemic, sales in the first third of the year drastically dropped in Thailand and Malaysia, decreasing by 60% from the same period of the previous year. However, the gradual launch of the new City in each ASEAN market is expected to revive sales. Looking at 2019 sales by country, Indonesia’s sales decreased 15.3% to 137,000 units, declining for the third consecutive year.

The HR-V and Mobilio, ranked second and fourth in 2019, dropped sharply, going down 37.0% and 37.2% respectively. In contrast, the Brio Satya and Brio, ranked first and third, sold well in 2019. The Brio Satya and the Brio along with the Jazz, ranked fifth, captured the top three positions in the B-car market. Sales in Thailand fell 1.9% to 126,000 units, share dropping 0.2pp to 12.5%. The Civic increased 13.9% to 31,000 units, maintaining top share in Thailand’s C-car market for the fourth consecutive year. The City dropped 12.9% to 30,000 units. The fully-redesigned City, which is now Eco Car compliant, was released in November 2019. The new model is expected to boost Honda’s market share with its competitive pricing. The Accord, whose fully-redesigned model was launched in May 2019, increased 93.6% to 6,372 units. In Malaysia, Honda’s third largest ASEAN market, sales fell 16.5% to 85,000 units.