Bangkok--19 May--A.P. Honda
Because of multiple negative factors, the number of new bike registration has plunged to the lowest in 15 months in April. The registration last month which was 105,000 units shrinks by 19 per cent, compared to the same period last year. However, the growth of the PGM-FI model has gone against the sluggish economy. The 40-per-cent-increase resulted from the latest technology meeting the customers’ demand of economical bikes and the continuous aggressive campaigns on the latest technology.
Teerapat Chivapong, Sales Director of A.P. Honda Co.,Ltd. says the number of 105,363 new bike registrations has fallen after a continuous rise throughout the first quarter. The decreasing number has also plummeted to the lowest for the first time in 15 months. In December 2007, there were 103,218 new bike registrations. The number of new bike registration last month dropped by 19 per cent, compared to 130,795 new bike registration of the same period last year.
The negative factors resulted from sluggish economy, unstable politics and long holidays last month.
Despite the decrease in new bike registration in the over bike market, the sale of those equipped with PGM-FI technology has largely increased. The sale continued to grow from January to April which was 22 per cent, 25 per cent, 37 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. The constant growth has shown the current demand for economical bikes with high performance.
Moreover, Honda — the inventor PGM-FI, has regularly boosted the sales with campaigns particularly on Automatic Transmission and Click-i models, resulting in steady increasing new registrations within Bangkok and peripheral areas since March.
The number of new registrations in April is 52,613 units for family bikes which is 50 per cent of the over all market; 48,416 for Automatic Transmission bikes or 46 per cent; 2,627 for familysport bikes or 2 per cent; 849 for sport bike or 1 per cent; and 858 for other categories.
The over all new registration between January - April is 461,655 units which is decreased by 17 per cent from the same period last year.