Honda sticks to its guns

Hemananthani Sivanandam `We will continue to advertise to maintain our brand and to guide our customers to make the right decision in selecting the right models." – Toru Takahashi HONDA Malaysia is steadfastly pushing sales of its cars at full prices, even in the face of the current economic challenges. “The fact is, we do not give discounts because we believe our products are worth the price, and our customers always know the true value and benefit of buying a Honda,” managing director and CEO Toru Takahashi said. “Thus, even if the market is bad, you will not see us advertising on discounts because we don’t believe in giving discounts. “We will, however, continue to advertise our brand and products to maintain our branding position and market presence.” Takahashi, who took the helm of Honda Malaysia last April, said although the general auto industry market outlook is not too bright, he was confident that his company will not be badly affected. He said the Malaysia Automotive Association forecasts that total new vehicle sales in the country will fall to 480,000 units this year – a drop of 12.4% from 548,115 units sold last year. “We forecast that total national sales will be lower than that, just about 440,000 units. But we are targeting to sell 35,000 units of that, which will translate to an 8% increase of our sales last year.” Judging from its performance, it looks like Honda is on its way to achieve its target. “From January to May, we have sold about 17,000 units and achieved 29% year-on-year growth, or about 50% of our target,” Takahashi said. Although the economy is in a difficult position and some companies are slashing their advertising budgets, Honda Malaysia is not scaling back on its budget. “We will continue to advertise to maintain our brand and to guide our customers to make the right decision in selecting the right models,” Takahashi said. “But we don’t have any new models coming up this year so our advertising campaign will be a bit different from our previous ones,” he said, adding that it is in the midst of preparing for its campaigns for the second half of the year. Honda will still focus on traditional media although it has also ventured into the new media in the last few years. Takahashi said the company relies on three pillars- corporate and product PR and advertising – to maintain its brand presence in the market. “We relay our messages to our customers through PR and we establish our brand and presence in the market through advertising, therefore both of these functions blend together. “We put emphasis on motorsports which shows our challenging spirit, as well as on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and advanced technology. For example, the company gained public relations mileage through its CSR programmes such as the Honda Dreams Fund and its Save the Rhino project. The Honda Dreams Fund is a community project developed in 2007 to help underprivileged youths by providing them with the opportunity to pursue higher education and skills training in local institutions of higher learning. The scholarships are awarded to promising students who fit the selection criteria set by Honda and United Nations Development Programme. The Save the Rhino project was initiated by Honda together with World Wildlife Fund to protect Sumatran rhinos in the country. Takahashi, who was previously a manager in the automobile department at Honda Motors in Tokyo, said during challenging times, it is vital for business managers to be “on the ball” and actively monitor the market, so they are able to make more agile and flexible decisions based on market changes. “Companies must adapt to changes in the market situation, but the answer always lies in the customers, so we have to monitor the changes in them,” he said, adding the company regularly conducts surveys to understand its customers’ behaviour. “However, surveys have their limitations, so we must also take into account feedback from our dealerships, associates and sales service representatives to give us the feedback.”

source : TheSun