Honda Cars Phils expects 20% sales growth this year

MANILA, Philippines - Honda Cars Philippines expects to grow by 20 percent this year after a sales decline in 2008.

In an interview, Honda president and general manager Hiroshi Shimizu said that this year has been a very good year because of the high sales for the fuel efficient Honda City and Jazz. Shimizu noted a strong demand for fuel efficient vehicles.

As of the end of November, Honda has posted a 17 percent growth from last year.

For next year, Shimizu said that they will be growing as fast as the industry at four percent. He said that there will be new models coming in.

In terms of production, Shimizu said that they have been operating at almost full capacity by producing more than 1,000 units. However, he said that they will not be ramping up their production capacity for next year.

Earlier, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said the automotive industry exceeded expectations for this year as it is projected to sell 127,0000 units or a 2.3 percent growth from last year.

“If you remember, at the start of the year, we were hoping for a flat growth as the worst case scenario. So it looks like we’re not only hitting our target, we are going to exceed it,” Elizabeth H. Lee, CAMPI president said.

At the same time, CAMPI announced that they see 2010 to be a better year with a four percent growth on sales of 132,000 units.

Lee noted that the growth this year was a direct result of the typhoon replacement rate, strong overseas Filipino workers remittance and the stable financing environment.

According to Lee, the typhoons that hit the country has devastated many vehicles and affected owners scrambled to replace the damaged vehicles. At the same time, the steady inflow of OFW remittance has helped bankroll vehicle purchases. Lee approximated that remittance went up 8.6 percent for the first nine months of the year.

Likewise, the stable financing environment and the aggressive promotion of partner banks has helped the auto industry.

“We are thankful that the industry was spared from the devastating effects of the global crisis. After all, bucking the trend by growing, especially for a developing country such as ours, is no small feat,” Lee explained.