Honda and Ford drive ahead
Auto joint ventures Honda Vietnam and Ford Vietnam are taking brave steps to bolster sales amid a hostile business climate.
Albeit setting a modest sales figure of selling 40,000 new SH scooters both 125i and 150i cylinder capacity versions, just a tiny proportion in the company’s 2012 projection of producing two million motorbikes, Honda Vietnam (HVN) general director Masayuki Igarashi decided to choose Vietnam for launching these two brand-new SH scooter lines.
“The Vietnamese market will be highly vibrant in the forthcoming time based on our studies covering population structure, economic situation, motorbike popularity, transport system and availability of public means of transport. This was why HVN came to the decision to set up its third factory in Vietnam’s Ha Nam province,” said Igarashi.
In the past SH scooters were imported into Vietnam and incurred high import duty. Now, the scooter’s 93 per cent localisation rate helped pare down costs significantly, according to Igrashi.
HVN is scaling up efforts to expand autorised sales dealers (HEAD) network to reach 630 units by the year’s end from current 599 units.
In 2011, HVN sold 2.03 million motorbikes of multiple types in the Vietnamese market, making up 12 per cent of Honda Motor’s global sales.
Several other auto firms are also making great strides to boost sales, with Ford Vietnam being a prominent example.
Ford Vietnam’s managing director Laurent Charpentier said the company just pressed into service a parts store in northern Bac Ninh province with $2 million investment to boost the quality of its guarantee and maintenance services.
The company came up with special customer service programmes to propagate latest technology innovations in its products in collaboration with its agents.
The company efforts were duty rewarded. Its sales volume in June 2012 was almost doubled that in May with 437 car units being sold, a record since the year’s debut, paving the way for the company to grab 6.7 market share in June whereas general car consumption shed 4.6 per cent during the period.
As part of the company’s globally well-known Once Ford strategy Fiesta and Ranger new versions and in the coming period Focus new version were and will be launched with suitable versions matching Vietnamese conditions in a manner much more faster than it was some years ago.
“To roll out Focus newest version in late 2012, Ford Vietnam has spent almost two years to partake in this global project, with careful preparations in workshop, human resources and technology,” said Charpentier.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/business/25231/business-in-brief-3-8.html
Category: Business
