With petrol prices at RM 4.40/litre, 1 in every 3 new Hondas sold in Thailand wears the e:HEV hybrid badge

As of October 2022, Honda has sold 67,190 cars in Thailand, giving it a 23.5 percent market share of the passenger car market (including SUVs). The figure places Honda in second place behind Toyota’s 29.4 percent.

The figure above does not include commercial vehicles like the Hilux, Hiace, and pick-up truck-based SUVs like the Fortuner, segments which Honda are not present in.

Honda sells 7 models in Thailand, out of which 5 are available as hybrids. Only the Honda BR-V and Honda CR-V are not available with electrified drivetrains.

For more recent models like the Honda HR-V, a 1.5-litre two-motor i-MMD full-hybrid is the only available engine. Naturally, the HR-V is also the best-selling Honda hybrid model there.

A spokesperson for Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. confirmed that one in every 3 new Honda models sold in 2022 are hybrids.

Closer to home, hybrids account for a far smaller percentage of Honda Malaysia’s sales, mainly because petrol is still subsidized and there’s no longer any incentive for hybrids, BMW and Volvo PHEVs aside. Explaining the reasons behind it require another topic but to keep it short – closed door negotiations and ‘customized incentives.’

In Thailand, hybrids also enjoy lower taxes. CO2 emission is now a factor in determining a vehicle’s excise tax bracket, so hybrids naturally have an advantage.

Hybrids that emit less than 100 g/km of CO2 are taxed at just 4 percent, while those that emit between 101 – 150 g/km are taxed at 8 percent. Regular combustion engine car with the same CO2 emissions bracket are taxed at 25 percent and 30 percent respectively.

With Thailand’s RON 95 petrol being sold there at around RM 4.40 per litre, many Thai buyers won’t even consider a car if it’s not a hybrid. Over in Malaysia, with subsidized petrol capped at just RM 2.05 per litre, so buyers here are still stuck with the "turbo or nothing" mentality.

Honda Malaysia offers 4 hybrid models - the e:HEV RS variants of the Honda City, Honda City Hatchback, Honda HR-V, and Honda Civic - 1 model less than Thailand. The missing model being the Honda Accord e:HEV.

Hybrid variants of City and City Hatchback contribute about 5 to 8 percent of the model’s total sales here, while the higher range HR-V attracts 11 percent. Numbers for the Honda Civic are not available yet, as it was only launched in Malaysia last month.

However if you were to include variants, the total Honda hybrid models in Thailand increases to 10. The Accord for example, comes in 2 e:HEV variants, while the Civic and HR-V have 3 each.

Honda Malaysia was also the first to locally assemble a hybrid model here, the second generation Honda Jazz with a 1.3-litre IMA mild-hybrid, at the company’s assembly plant in Pegoh, Melaka.

Also read: Hybrid 101: Demystifying MHEV, HEV, PHEV, and understanding whether Toyota, Honda, or Perodua hybrids are best for you

In September 2020, the company opened a new battery pack (Honda calls it Integrated Power Unit, IPU) assembly line – the first of its kind in Malaysia. It’s no small feat because the facility has to be kept at constant 25 degrees Celsius to preserve the health of ‘raw’ Li-ion cells.

The cells, supplied by either Panasonic or Blue Energy, a joint venture between GS Yuasa and Honda Motor, must be assembled within 180 days. Beyond that, the cells will no longer meet quality and safety standards and must be sent back to Japan. Regular storage is fine once the cells are assembled into a complete IPU.

Also read: Honda opens Malaysia’s first hybrid vehicle battery assembly plant, for 2020 Honda City RS

All Honda hybrid models sold in Malaysia – City e:HEV RS, City Hatchback e:HEV RS, HR-V e:HEV RS, and Civic e:HEV RS are locally assembled in Melaka, with locally assembled IPUs.