Bangkok--22 Jul--Aziam Burson-Marsteller
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced its “Direction for the next decade,” aiming to offer new value to the global community and putting an increased emphasis on customer satisfaction. The company will focus on developing green technology and providing good products with speed, affordability and low CO2 emissions. Honda’s strategy will concentrate on three areas including the advancement of environmental technologies; strengthening its manufacturing systems and capabilities; and building up its business operations in emerging markets. Asia will continue to play a vital role as the key hub for Honda’s production and the company’s export base.
At its mid-year press conference in Wako, Mr. Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., announced that over the past few years, consumer preference has largely shifted toward smaller-sized vehicles in every automobile market around the world, as shown by an increasing growth rate for this market segment. This shift reflects a worldwide trend towards increasing environmental awareness, as well as fundamental changes in the global economy. Honda has been addressing these factors to gain competitive advantage and achieve further growth.
“As we are in the midst of a difficult business environment, nothing is more important than going back to Honda’s basic principle of ensuring low CO2 emissions, which is a priority from the customer’s perspective. We determined that, for our business direction for the next decade, Honda will provide good products with speed, affordability and low CO2 emissions.” said Mr. Ito. “By ‘good products,’ we mean embodying customer wants and needs in attractive products by using Honda’s unique technologies, knowledge and ingenuity. These products must be delivered with speed so our customers don’t need to wait, and at affordable prices that make our customers happy with their purchase. ‘Low CO2 emissions’ reflects Honda’s serious commitment to environmental management.” he said.
Ito added that Honda has always been putting its great effort on the reduction of its environmental footprint by introduction of environmentally-friendly products into widespread market such as the hybrid Insight and CR-Z models. Honda will accelerate the advancement of environmental technologies by adding more hybrid car models, starting with the Fit Hybrid that will be introduced to the Japanese market this fall. A new plug-in hybrid system for mid-size to larger vehicles is currently under development. Honda is also making progress in developing a battery electric vehicle (EV), with a goal to put it into real-world use as soon as possible. Honda’s battery EV is scheduled to go on sale in Japan and the U.S. in 2012. However, Honda will continue developing technologies to improve the performance and fuel economy of internal combustion engines. The company will begin renewing its engine and transmission lineup starting in 2012 to further improve the fuel consumption of its vehicles.
In December of 2010, Honda will begin lease sales of EV-neo electric motorcycles to businesses and individual business owners in Japan. It will also launch a new electric motorcycle in China next year. Honda will introduce electric motorcycles to both developed and emerging markets; further improve product performance and cost competitiveness; and strive to become a market leader in this segment.
With its goals of customer satisfaction and innovative products with a low CO2 footprint, Honda will strengthen its manufacturing systems and capabilities by applying greater knowledge of manufacturing technology. A prototype plant in Japan will focus on technology for small-sized and environmentally-friendly cars, then share its knowledge with other Honda plants around the world under a policy of “produced at the location with market demand. The company will strengthen its cross-factory/cross-border supply systems by increasing the flexibility of its manufacturing systems. As a result, Honda will establish a solid manufacturing system that will enable it to better respond to drastic changes in the market.
For building up its business operations in emerging markets, Honda will focus on motorcycles, as they are a major part of people’s daily lives. The motorcycle market tends to be highly competitive with other key producers in countries such as China and India. To maintain its leadership in this segment, Honda will not only maintain its quality, but will also increase its cost competitiveness through greater localization of production, including local procurement of components and materials.
As a result of more than 40 years of this effort, Honda’s motorcycle production plant in Thailand has become a production base for Honda’s global models such as the PCX scooter, unveiled in Thailand last year and now exported to other countries worldwide. Later this year, Honda also will introduce an all-new sports model to the Thai market, which will then be exported to many countries worldwide as well.
Asia remains an important production base for Honda. Next year, Honda plans to expand its motorcycle production by opening a new plant in Indonesia. When complete, Honda’s annual motorcycle production capacity in Asia (excluding Japan) will increase from the current approximately 16 million units to 18 million units by the end of 2011. By leveraging the economies of scale achieved with the annual production of 18 million units, Honda will continue to make progress in localizing all processes from development to procurement and production to further improve its competitiveness.
For the automobile segment, to be more competitive in emerging nations where the market for small-sized vehicles is rapidly growing, Honda will further accelerate its effort to localize automobile production by using more locally-produced dies, materials and components. In Thailand, a new eco-car with an excellent level of fuel economy will be introduced next year and then exported to other ASEAN nations. Honda also plans to launch a new entry model in India based on the same vehicle with eco-car.
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Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
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Aziam Burson-Marsteller
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Saranjit Chuwongkomol
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