Honda Malaysia: Cost of raw materials rising but no increase in prices, for now
Hans Ā· Jul 15, 2022 04:57 PM
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The automotive industry is now buckling under the pressure of rising cost of raw materials and logistics, as well as shortage of semiconductor parts and labour. Since June, several manufacturers have already announced price hikes unrelated to the resumption of SST (though for ease of transition, the two factors are grouped into one price adjustment).
Toyota for example, has already announced a circa RM 3,000 increase in prices of the Toyota Hilux, which as a commercial vehicle, never qualified for SST exemption so this adjustment is unrelated to resumption of SST on 1-July 2022.
Proton too, had increased prices of the updated 2022 Proton X70 1.8 TGDi Premium by RM 6,000, versus pre-SST-exempted February 2020 prices, even though there is no change in specifications (ignore inconsequential details like change in headliner colour from beige to black).
Honda Malaysia too has since announced their post-SST prices but since all their recent models were either launched during the SST-exemption period or have had adjustments in features list, it’s hard to make a direct comparison.
With waiting period for the 2022 Honda HR-V stretching up to 1-year, and 6 months for the Honda Civic, the obvious question is will there be further adjustments in prices? After all, prices rise / fall in relation to supply and demand before achieving equilibrium, right?
When asked if there will be further increase in prices of Honda cars in Malaysia, Executive Coordinator Yujiro Sugino said “We’ve just announced our (new) prices recently, in July, so at the moment, there will be no further increase in prices,” who was speaking to the press after yesterday’s launch of the all-new 2022 Honda HR-V.
When asked if prices will be maintained in 2023, Sugino reiterated that the new prices are valid “for the time being.”
Honda Malaysia trades in both Yen (which has a favourable rate against the Ringgit) and US Dollar (extremely unfavorable). A large portion of the company’s trade is done in US Dollars, to import parts from Thailand, the location of region’s ‘Mother Plant.’
Is there any SUV in this price point that can do this?
At time of publishing this, the Ringgit has just weakened past the RM 4.45 psychological barrier, hitting a new recent-time low. Historically, the lowest the Ringgit ever reached was RM 4.71, on 8-January 1998.
Prices of the 2022 Honda HR-V range from RM 114,800 to RM 140,800.
Given the shortage in supply of new cars, it's going to be difficult for us to do a full review anytime soon but we've produced a video review of the Thailand market 2022 Honda HR-V e:HEV RS. Apart from the panoramic sunroof, specifications are identical to our local market cars, which are produced at Honda Malaysia's plant in Pegoh.
Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6-cylinder manual RWD but buses to work.
