Honda Malaysia has announced the appointment of Hironobu Yoshimura as its new Managing Director & CEO. He takes over from Madoka Chujo who has returned to Honda’s head office in Japan to assume a new role in the Automobile Operations Sales Supervisory Unit, Sales Division which covers a larger number of markets.

Mr. Yoshimura has been with Honda Motor for 34 years, with experience in the areas of Corporate Planning, Business Planning, Marketing and Aftersales Services. He has held key roles in various countries such as Japan, Thailand and Pakistan, with his position prior to coming to Malaysia was being President & CEO of Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited.

“I am excited to take up this new role at Honda Malaysia. This unique and diverse nation is truly an important market in the Asia and Oceania region for us at Honda. My predecessors have built the Honda brand to become the success that it is now in Malaysia – as the forerunner in introducing Honda’s advanced technology in the region, launching exciting new models and leading the Non-National Passenger Vehicle segment for many years,” he said.

“Most importantly, Honda Malaysia has persevered through and overcame many challenges over the years. I look forward to leading the company in a post-pandemic business environment and to contribute positively towards the growth of the company,” he added. “I am also pleased to share that based on our internal data, three Honda models have ranked No.1 in their respective segments for the first quarter of 2022. The models are the City, City Hatchback and the latest Civic.”

During her short time in Malaysia, Ms. Chujo led the company through a difficult period when the country was still having restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, she introduced the new City Hatchback and Civic models as well as celebrated the production of the 1-millionth vehicle at the Honda Malaysia plant in Melaka recently. During her term, Honda Malaysia also maintained its No. 1 position in the Non-National Passenger Vehicle Segment for the 8th consecutive year.

Honda Malaysia’s local vehicle assembly crosses 1 million mark

While its sales have continued to recover, Proton’s first quarter of 2022 saw lower than usual volumes as a result of the floods in December which affected some vendors, as well as disrupted logistics. Also contributing to the lower numbers was the global microchip shortage; just one small item being unavailable means a vehicle cannot be completed.

In the final month of the quarter, Proton sold 13,028 vehicles (inclusive of export sales), an increase of 41.2% from the volume achieved in February. The volume is estimated to account for a 19% market share. Added to the January and February sales volumes, the total volume for the first quarter of 2022 was 26,706 units, which Proton estimates will be a 17.5% share of the market.

This would be good enough to place the brand second overall table, despite a reduction in sales of 18.6% and also a 5.7% contraction in market share compared to the same period in 2021.

New milestones
While total sales for March were down by 13% compared to the same month in 2021, Proton still had some highlights worth noting. Sales of the Saga, a model that was severely affected in January, reached 6,422 units in March, which was its highest volume since November 2013. According to Proton, this made it the sales leader among A-segment sedans as well as the best-selling A-segment model overall.

The Saga’s sales numbers were helped by a growth in export sales. With a total of 794 units (various models) exported in March, the company saw its highest export sales figure in 108 months. Pakistan was the biggest export market, accounting for 690 units, while overall export volume in the quarter totalled 1,117 units. This was an increase of 175% over the same quarter last year.

As for the other models, the X70, Proton X50 and Proton Exora retained leadership in their respective segments with sales of 2,320 units, 1,573 units and 536 units. The Persona and Iriz finished third and fourth in their segments as stiff competition and parts shortages continued to affect sales.

Not entirely smooth running yet
“The first three months of 2022 were tough for Proton and our customers. Production issues continue to suppress our true potential and as a result, created a long waiting list for our cars. Our parts supply and hence, production volumes, began to stabilize in March but we’re expecting a few more disruptions in the coming months as other industries have still to ramp up their production,” said Roslan Abdullah, CEO of Proton Edar.

“For the rest of the year however, Proton is still aiming to hit our targets as we work closely with our vendors and dealers to smooth out supply lines to deliver cars to our customers. We are also making progress with sorting out our aftersales issues and therefore, the company is confident it can rebound strongly over the next quarter,” he said.

Proton has been working hard to address the issue of customers not being able to get parts needed for repairs or replacement. The company has now made it a mandatory requirement for all authorized dealers to have a minimum of 3 months holding stock of 22 fast-moving parts. To support this, Proton’s own central parts centre will also be subject to the same requirement.

Proton R3 moves forward with new range of Premium Genuine Oils and new merchandise

With the opening of the southern border in Johor after two years, thousands of motorists from Singapore have been streaming across the Causeway and Second Link. They are coming over for various reasons; apart from ‘escaping’ from their island after being locked in for so long, many may be eager to enjoy Malaysian food, buy goods at lower prices (due to the exchange rate), go back to the homes they own in Johor Bahru or just enjoy a long drive.

One thing some seem to have forgotten is that when it comes to buy fuel, there are restrictions which have been in force since 2010. Fuel is cheaper in Malaysia compared to many countries because our government provides subsidies to maintain the levels for RON95 petrol and biodiesel. Thus, for Singaporeans, buying fuel in Malaysia saves a lot of money, not only because their prices are much higher but also due to the exchange rate which is favourable for them,

However, if they buy petrol at subsidized rates, they are taking advantage of a benefit which should rightfully be enjoyed only by citizens of Malaysia. According to former PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak, each litre of RON95 petrol has a subsidy of RM1.70 at the moment. So each time a Singapore-registered vehicle fills up, they are ‘stealing’ our subsidy, hence the restriction.

Actually, Singaporeans are also required by their government to have not less than 3/4 tank of fuel when they depart from Singapore. This regulation goes back to the early 1980s and is still in force. Although all fuel gauges have a mark at the 3/4 point, some fuel gauges in Volvos (at that time) did not have a mark at that level. So, as an immediate solution, they had to open up the instrument panel and paint a small mark for their new cars.

While there is a restriction on purchase of RON95 petrol and biodiesel, there is no restriction on RON97 petrol, Shell’s V-Power and Petron’s RON100 petrol, which are not subsidised though the prices are still cheap for Singaporeans. The retail prices of these are based on global oil prices and the government’s Automatic Pricing Mechanism. Global oil prices fell significantly in the first half of 2020 but began rising again and with the Ukraine conflict, the prices have been going further up. This means that the government has had to provide more and more subsidies, and it is reaching a point where there is talk that the cap will have to be changed or a more targeted approach of subsidies is needed (which was attempted before).

In view of a number of cases where Singapore-registered vehicles have been spotted being refuelled with RON95 petrol, the government has issued a stern warning to station operators that there can be fines of up to RM2 million (for station operators) if an offence is committed. This applies to Thai-registered vehicles as well but in the case of the northern border, the demand is more for our biodiesel.

The Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia has, however, said that it is difficult to monitor the sales. Where in the past, customers may have had to make payment manually, they can now do so at the pump using their credit cards. Therefore, unless there is someone standing there all the time to watch, it is hard to enforce the regulation. Station operators say that they do not have spare manpower to do this, and they don’t want to worsen their financial difficulties by employing additional workers.

Perhaps a simple solution would be to add a provision in the law for a vehicle to be confiscated if found to be committing the offence. There is already a RM1 million fine for individuals but losing a car can be equally painful. This may be harsh but if a few motorists get caught and lose their cars, word will quickly spread around Singapore not to ‘play-play’ when in Malaysia and don’t buy RON95 petrol.