Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. today announced that prices for Honda vehicles will be increased effective January 2016 due to the depreciation of the Malaysian Ringgit. The Company is currently analyzing the impact and estimates the price increase to be around 2% to 3% depending on the model. Honda Malaysia will continue monitoring the exchange rate situation closely and will decide on the price in December 2015.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia Mr. Yoichiro Ueno said, “Over the past years, Honda Malaysia has streamlined operations in order to be more efficient and also worked hard to introduce products at very affordable prices to our customers. Since the introduction of Honda models with its current price, the Ringgit has depreciated by 20%-30% against the US Dollar. The drastic depreciation of the Ringgit has caused a significant increase to the cost of imported parts and components. Despite our efforts to reduce operational costs and expenses to mitigate the impact, we have to take the last measure to shift the impact partially to the price.
The automotive industry is especially vulnerable to fluctuations in currency due to imported parts and components in foreign exchange but the effect is usually not immediate. Honda Malaysia has purchased some parts and components earlier when the Ringgit currency was stronger. However, current and future purchases are exposed to the Ringgit instability.
“After weighing all possible options, a price increase is an inevitable step for Honda Malaysia in order to continue offering high quality products and services to our customers. If the Ringgit currency appreciates to the previous level, we would reevaluate the pricing structure once again,” added Mr. Ueno.
“Honda Malaysia began 2015 strongly and is currently leading in the Non-National Segment as at September 2015. With this, we are positive to achieve our 2015 sales target of 85,000 units with the support of Honda customers in Malaysia,” commented Mr. Ueno.
The Company will share details of the pricing adjustments in due time. For more information, please log on to www.honda.com.my or call Honda’s Toll Free number at 1-800-88-2020.
