PETALING JAYA: Honda Malaysia’s car sales for the period of May to July 2021 declined 52% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 5,700 units due to the extended lockdown, according to Honda Malaysia managing director and CEO Madoka Chujo.
“With only certain after-sales services allowed and sales and manufacturing operations on halt, it is no surprise that sales have plunged. We sold about 5,700 units in this period compared to close to 12,000 units sold in the same period last year when the country was under conditional movement control order (CMCO) and recovery movement control order (RMCO),“ she said in a statement.
The company has closed its business operations comprising Honda Malaysia’s plant in Pegoh (Malacca), sales office and dealer showrooms since June to comply with the implementation of the full movement control order (FMCO).
She said the prolonged business closure has also impacted Honda Malaysia’s new model production due to no testing conducted in the manufacturing facility.
“The company’s supply chain and exportation of parts are also affected. The automotive industry supports a wide network of local components and parts suppliers that comprises a few tiers. These suppliers might not be able to sustain their operations and this will subsequently affect the overall supply chain. The current extended lockdown and no visibility on business resumption timeframe have impacted planning and overall investment of the automotive marques,“ she said.
Honda said the FMCO has created domino effects on all 101 Honda authorised dealers who face financial difficulties and the uncertainty of employment for sales and service advisers as well as other staff at the dealers. The sales advisers whose income largely depend on commission earned, have been severely impacted.
Chujo said Honda Malaysia understands the hardship that the dealers and Honda associates are going through, and hence, the company is trying to do its best to assist them during difficult times.
One of the efforts is by registering Honda associates under the Public-Private Partnership Industrial Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to expedite the country’s rate of vaccination. The company targets to achieve 100% of first dose vaccination for all its associates by mid-August 2021.
Honda Malaysia hopes that should the early resumption of the automotive sector be possible under strict SOPs and guidelines set by the government, there will be no long-term impact such as retrenchment of employees and can help to mitigate potential business closure among the supply chain.
