Honda 2010 Annual Report Download - page 18

Demand for motorcycles is continuing to expand in Asia, where
they are an essential means of transportation. In calendar 2009,
despite the negative impact of the global economic downturn
in the first half of the year, demand recovered during the sec-
ond half and total demand for motorcycles*1 rose about 6%
over the previous year, to approximately 40.2 million units.
By country, sales in India rose about 19%, to approxi-
mately 8.8 million units; sales in Indonesia decreased roughly
8%, to about 6 million units; and sales in Thailand dropped
approximately 10%, to about 1.5 million units.
Amid these business conditions, in India, Honda intro-
duced the all-new
Activa 110cc scooter. Also, in February 2010,
Honda launched its
CB Twister , a fuel-efficient 110cc motorcy-
cle, which is targeted at younger riders and follows the trends
in European large-bike design. In India, 100cc-to-110cc motor-
cycles account for about half of the total market, and the
CB
Twister
is expected to show a strong sales performance.
In October 2009, Honda began production and
sales in Thailand of its strategic global model,
PCX , which is
a 125cc-class scooter featuring a global standard design for
major components, which enhances cost-competitiveness and
production efficiency.
In addition, in the
Wave series, which is a major Hon-
da model in Asia and is currently marketed mainly in ASEAN
countries, Honda introduced a full model change version of its
Wave 110 RSX in Vietnam in October 2009, giving it a sport-
ier design for added appeal to the target market of younger
*1: According to Honda research. The motorcycle registration market includes
eight countries in this region: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Vietnam, India, Pakistan and China.
*2: This total includes sales of finished products of Honda and its consolidated
subsidiaries and sales of knocked down kits to Honda’s affiliated companies
accounted for under the equity method for use in local production by such
companies.
Asia
customers. In Thailand, Honda launched the Wave 110i AT
Cub-style scooter in February 2010, which is outfitted with the
new type CV-matic automatic transmission and features both
practicality and convenience.
Honda’s unit sales in Asia*2 for the fiscal year under
review rose 1.4% over the previous fiscal year, to 7,628,000
units. This increase was due to favorable expansion in sales of
new models and growth in sales, principally in India, Vietnam,
and certain other countries.
In production activities, in India, consolidated sub-
sidiary Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Private Limited made
the decision to build a second production plant to respond to
rapidly growing demand in that country. Along with the ex-
pansion in capacity of its existing plant, the second plant is
scheduled to go into operation in the latter half of 2011, and
this will bring this company’s total annual production capac-
ity to 2.2 million units. In addition, Honda Vietnam Co., Ltd.
(HVN) plans to expand the annual production capacity of its
motorcycle production plant by 500,000 units in order to meet
rapidly growing demand in Vietnam. With this newly planned
expansion, HVN’s total motorcycle production capacity will be
2 million units annually within the latter half of 2011.
Wave 110i AT (Thailand)CB Twister (India)
Review of Operations
Motorcycle Business
16