Honda Thailand problems affecting Australian sales
Honda sales have been crimped by stock
imbalance in Australia, with base models in short supply.
A run on the popular base versions of the Jazz, Civic,
four-cylinder Accord VTi and CR-V compact SUV means that
stocks have been depleted for much of this year.
Honda
Jazz
Honda’s decision to slash production at its Thailand plant
in the wake of the global economic crisis has been at the
centre of the stock shortages for Honda Australia.
Honda Australia senior director Lindsay Smalley said the
model mix coming from Thailand had to be changed. “Now that
we have seen the initial customer response to the financial
crisis, our next challenge is to have the right model mix,”
he said at last week’s launch of the new-generation Odyssey
people-mover (which comes out of Japan, not Thailand).
“We have two issues with stock. The first one is,
particularly at the lower grades, we are almost out of stock
of Jazz GLi, Civic VTi, base-model CR-V, Accord VTi. As
certain areas of the market drop, sales of those types of
cars have grown. So we have a model mix issue - healthy
stock for the most expensive cars. Production constraints in
Thailand (means) that we physically can’t get cars at the
moment. In Thailand, they have built a new plant for the
Australian market essentially, but that has been mothballed,
and the other plant has gone from three shifts down to one
shift with no overtime. And that’s most of the production
for the Asian region - Jazz, Civic, Accord and CR-V.”
Honda Australia put a positive spin on Honda’s stock crisis,
saying that it had managed to move quite a few high-line
models during the last month or so, and that the company was
now on more secure footing, considering the current economic
situation.
“We would like more stock. But when there is less stock in
these market conditions, we are in a much better position
than if we were overstocked.”
There is no doubt about the fact that this is a global
recession, and with Thailand being a manufacturing base for
Asia and Australasia, it will be necessary for all parties
to work together.
The sales figures for March in Thailand, both domestic
consumption and export were quite promising, so hopefully
this trend will continue. In the meantime, China is going
full steam ahead in the auto business, with the sales
figures surpassing those of America.
Less is more
The financial problems facing the world has also
made a difference to the residual values in the secondhand
market. With finance for new cars being difficult, people
are looking at buying a secondhand model of the car they
originally might have bought on finance.
Generally, the small cars are less expensive than full-size
vehicles in the new car showrooms, but the savings are not
quite as clear cut in the secondhand car lots.
The recession is continuing to have a profound impact on
rates of used car depreciation, with the values of small,
fuel-efficient city cars now outperforming those of
prestige-brand saloons and 4x4s for the first time ever.
Vehicles in the city car segment are now the slowest
depreciating in the UK, retaining an average 49.5 percent of
their purchase price after three years and 36,000 miles.
“The improvement in values of city cars is all the more
remarkable when you take into account the massive growth in
the supply of three-year-old examples - annual sales in 2003
were 95,000, and by 2006 they had grown to 162,000,”
explained Adrian Rushmore, managing editor at Glass’s
Vehicle Guide.
Luxury saloon cars have been the biggest casualty in the
Glass’s Top 10, falling four places to number nine since
2006. “These models now represent less than one percent of
the total market, and it is difficult to see how they will
gain much favor during an economic downturn,” commented
Rushmore.
While these comments are on the UK secondhand scene, the
same market forces exist in Thailand. Have you noticed just
how many used car showrooms have popped up recently? Small
cars such as the Toyota Vios will hold their head up
pricewise better than the larger vehicles in the long run.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I mentioned that in the early
days, the spare wheel was usually tacked on to the rear of
the car. I asked which car, and when, did the spare wheel
become enclosed in the tail? The correct answer was the
Austin 20 tourer of 1919.
So to this week. Which three top level motorcycle racers
also raced in F1?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Rotating wheels after
balancing
Had the wheels balanced on the ‘new’ Mira the
other day. The technician (dare I elevate him that high?)
also, without my knowledge, rotated the wheels. Now this is
something I never do, the tyres get ‘used’ to one particular
corner of the car, front tyres in particular. The concept of
getting all four tyres to wear out at the same time also
means a larger hit replacing all four at once. However, when
I read the bill later, I found I had been charged 15 baht
per wheel for putting the wheel in a different spot on the
car. I consider this as padding the bill. However, I wonder
if I had said put them back in the same spot they would then
have charged me 15 baht each wheel for remembering which
wheel went where?
Padding?
Borneo Safari for the
Off-Roaders
Whilst for me “off-road” means I got the corner
all wrong, there is a strong following of off-road 4WD
enthusiasts. Later this year there will be an interesting
event for this group. Little known on the international 4x4
calendar, it is the Borneo Safari held every year in the
Malaysian State of Sabah.
The
event now entering its nineteenth year is organized by the
very capable Kota Kinabalu Four Wheel Drive Club, more
familiarly known as KFWDC.
I am told that the Borneo Safari is an eight day extreme off
road challenge. A combination of pristine jungle and crystal
clear rivers makes Sabah the ideal playground for off-road
enthusiasts. This year, 2009, the event will be held from
25th October until the 1st November.
The event itself can be likened to the Rainforest Challenge
of Peninsular Malaysia with a similar track environment and
the opportunity to introduce technical Special Stages along
the route.
The Borneo Safari is a competitive expedition with Special
Stages, around twenty in number, fought out as the convoy
moves along a difficult transportation route. As with any
event, the degree of difficulty is governed by the
prevailing weather conditions. However, it is not uncommon
to encounter landslides, the need to repair or build bridges
and cross fast flowing deep rivers. (And that’s why I like
to stay on the bitumen!)
Teams from overseas have competed in the past with regular
entrants from Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia and Japan.
It is claimed by the organizers that the Borneo Safari
stands alongside the more well known events such as the
Rainforest Challenge, the Magam Trophy and the Croatia to
name but a few.
For those that consider it is a long distance to bring their
own vehicle then do not let that become an obstacle. There
are local competition vehicles for rental that are fully
prepared to cope with the conditions to be expected on the
event. These vehicles are offered at a reasonable rate.
More information about KFWDC and the Borneo Safari can be
found at www.kfwdc.com.my.
What did we learn from
the Bahrain GP?
Well we learned that Toyota does not know winning
strategies, but Ross Brawn does. In fact, Ross Brawn has
been a winning strategist for many seasons and past world
champion Michael Schumacher owes his trophy cabinet to Ross
Brawn from his days at Ferrari. A good win for Jenson
Button, and can somebody now show him how to shave.
Toyota were 1st and 2nd on the grid and stormed away at the
start. Where did it go wrong? The wrong tyre choices at the
wrong time. It was known that the softer of the two tyre
choices was the quicker, but Toyota chose to put both
drivers on the slower tyre for long second stints. However,
their day will come and Trulli drove well to bag the third
step on the podium.
Vettel in the Red Bull continues as flavor of the month, and
with justification with a well driven 2nd place, though he
was getting on the ragged edge many times. Webber screwed up
qualifying so started around last place, and 11th at the
flag was not a bad effort, but well below both his (and the
car’s) potential.
Qualifying for Dummies - leaving your ‘ultimate’ lap till
right at the end of the time allotted does not make much
sense, when one hold-up for any reason ruins your starting
position. The reason the quickest times come at the end is
not that the track magically gets faster, but that the
drivers tune themselves up mentally for that final push.
They can do that with five minutes left in the session, and
then again at the end. Called a ‘banker’ lap, it would have
had Webber starting in a much more favorable position.
There are several drivers who should not be filling a seat
in the world’s premier motor racing class. Nakajima in the
Williams is one of these. He is fast, but can be reliably
expected to spin and hit things. He did not disappoint in
both these regards.
BMW are in big trouble. There will be bloodshed in the
boardroom over the team’s abysmal performances, especially
with German rival Mercedes-Benz currently blitzing the field
in the Brawn GP chassis. Team boss Mario Thyssen is
promising aerodynamic upgrades for the next GP in Spain. If
there is no improvement you can expect withdrawal of funds
by the factory. You read it here first!
Ferrari broke their duck with Raikkonen’s 6th placing, but
Massa broke his nose and finished out of the points. Massa
is reverting to his old erratic self with lots of excuses,
and will be replaced at the end of the year. You read it
here first.
Force India was shaking hands with themselves after both
cars finished. Dear Oh Dear, I’m sorry, Team Vindaloo is
still an also-ran. Perhaps owner VJ Mallya might like to try
a couple of his IPL cricketers in the seats next time, so
that they can hold up even more drivers in Qualifying.
The Sulky Spaniard and the ‘powered by Dad’s money’
Brazilian in the Renaults were nowhere, as were the Williams
and the Roaring Tossers. Improvement urgently needed.
Is McLaren on the comeback trail? Hamilton showed a little
of the form of last year, but Kovalainen just gets slower
and slower. He will be replaced at the end of 2009. You read
it here first.
The BBC telecast was very patchy. The director seemingly
unable to keep the sequence of the racing, and I don’t need
the anchorman to read me the table of runners as it appears
on the screen. I can do that myself without difficulty. What
we do need is more informed comment from the pits instead of
Leggard’s prattle from the press box.
