Honda Motor expects its vehicle sales in Indonesia to remain flat this year but sees its market share increasing, an official at its local unit told Reuters on Thursday.
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Honda reportedly posted record vehicle sales of 53,750 units in 2005, up 15.6% from the previous year. Its market share rose to 10.1% from 9.6% during this period.
“For this year, we are targeting our sales to be at least the same as they were in 2005, while the market share can increase to 10.5%,” John Fandy, a general manager at PT Honda Prospect Motor, told Reuters.
The news agency said a number of car manufacturers, including Honda and Toyota, posted record sales in Indonesia last year thanks to low interest rates and a robust economic outlook in the first half of the year.
Honda’s record sales in 2005 were mostly due to its compact model, Honda Jazz, the local variant of the Fit, which accounted for nearly 60% of its total volume sales, the report added.
But Reuters noted that sales in the country have been badly hit since the government raised fuel prices in October to relieve some of the burden of costly energy subsidies on the budget.
Despite pessimism from some in the industry after the sharp increase in fuel prices, Fandy reportedly was optimistic sales volumes would recover in April or May.
“Our forecast for the next three months is that sales would still remain stagnant due to the fuel price hike in October and interest rates. We think the market will normalise in the fourth or fifth month of this year,” Fandy told Reuters.
