Last week, Honda Prospect Motor in Indoensia, gave us the world premiere of the 2nd generation Honda Brio. It may still be an economy car, but the new Brio is undeniably a lot more stylish and well-equipped than the last.
Still, asuming its price tag of 164,000,000 Indonesian Ruppiah, I don’t think there’s a case for it here. Given that prices translate more or less with new Hondas, the Brio could be sold here in some configurations for just under RM60,000 or even RM50,000.
Sounds like a good deal, no? But there’s more to it than that.
The Malaysian car market has grown accustommed to non-national brands throwing lots of equipment for a high but expected price tag. Regardless of brand, this seems to be the norm, as Perodua and Proton both offer quite competetent products at much lower prices.
And while most mass-market car brands have lower cost options for markets like Indonesia, India, Thailand and China, they may avoid bringing in these into Malaysia. Think about it, a Brio goes up not against the Myvi, but the Axia. And yet, for RM60,000 the Myvi already offers Malaysians more of everything. Plus, we already have rather high-spec A-segment alternatives like the Kia Picanto on offer. And as awesome as the Picanto is, it’s still a tough sell to many Malaysians.
So, no, as attractive as this new Brio is, there’s very little reason to think that Honda Malaysia will bring it in.
But, if you want to hear arguments for why it might come, we have a post on that too.
