MANILA, Nov. 25 (PNA) — The local arm of Japanese car maker Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is eyeing to increase the sale of Honda CRV in the Philippine market after launching the full model change of the sport utility vehicle.
Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) President and General Manager Toshio Kuwahara told reporters at the sidelines of the launching of CRV’s fourth generation that the company targets to increase sales of the SUV by 20 percent by next year.
Kuwahara cited that CRV is selling at an average of 150 units per month.
“Before, we average around 150 units sales a month and I expect, with this major upgrade, to increase at least 20 percent or even up to 200 units a month,” said Kuwahara.
He mentioned that by increasing CRV sales by at least 20 percent, the vehicle segment’s share to HCPI’s total sales can climb to 12-13 percent.
Meanwhile, the new CRV introductory prices start at Php1.313 million for CRV 2.0 variant; Php1.353 million for CRV 2.0 automatic; Php1.483 million for CRV 2.0S automatic; and Php1.673 million for CRV 2.4 SX. Prices will climb with an additional of Php15,000-Php20,000 across all CRV variants next year.
According to HCPI chief, the Philippine market shall expect new Honda cars that are not yet here in the local market.
“We’re bringing in new cars that we haven’t brought in the Philippines including SUV. We planned to launch additional new models because we just had a full model change this year. So next year we don’t have any major changes,” Kuwahara added.
Prior to CRV, HCPI launched full model change on City and Jazz, as well as minor changes of Civic.
The Japanese car maker also introduced to the local market the Brio and Brio Amaze, which are in the E-category.
HCPI 10-month sales reached around 11,000 units, said Kuwahara.
The HCPI chief expects the company to end 2014 with 14,000 unit sales. (PNA)