Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has announced that prices for Honda vehicles will be increased effective January 2016 due to the depreciation of the Malaysian Ringgit. The price increase is estimated to be between 2% – 3% depending on model. Honda Malaysia will continue monitoring the exchange rate situation closely and the new prices will be decided in December 2015.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia Mr. Yoichiro Ueno said, “Over the past years, Honda Malaysia has streamlined operations in order to be more efficient and also worked hard to introduce products at very affordable prices to our customers. Since the introduction of Honda models with its current price, the Ringgit has depreciated by 20%-30% against the US Dollar. The drastic depreciation of the Ringgit has caused a significant increase to the cost of imported parts and components. Despite our efforts to reduce operational costs and expenses to mitigate the impact, we have to take the last measure to shift the impact partially to the price.”
The automotive industry is especially susceptible to fluctuations in currency due to imported parts in foreign exchange but the effect is not always immediate. Honda Malaysia purchased some parts and components earlier when the Ringgit currency was stronger. However, current and future purchases are exposed to the Ringgit instability.
“After weighing all possible options, a price increase is an inevitable step for Honda Malaysia in order to continue offering high quality products and services to our customers. If the Ringgit currency appreciates to the previous level, we would reevaluate the pricing structure once again,” added Mr. Ueno.
“Honda Malaysia began 2015 strongly and is currently leading in the Non-National Segment as at September 2015. With this, we are positive to achieve our 2015 sales target of 85,000 units with the support of Honda customers in Malaysia,” commented Mr. Ueno.
