This video is taken from the same press conference and is of Honda Malaysia's new COO Mr Roslan bin Abdullah answering the same question as Yoichiro Ueno-san - about the Honda-Proton collaboration. The answer is a bit more intelligible this time but the PA system volume was quite low so you need to turn up the volume on your computer speakers in order to hear what Mr Roslan was saying (basically nothing more than what we have already reported here on 'Honda Fan').
Honda Malaysia CEO's official answer to the Honda Proton collaboration
The by now infamous announcement about the Honda-Proton collaboration continues to be of interest to many Honda fans with many questions still unanswered. To date, other than the original press release, neither party has made any further clarifications. As Proton is a Malaysian car manufacturer, naturally we are expected to be in a position to find out most about the details of this collaboration.
A few months ago, I managed to get an unofficial comment from a Honda Malaysia person whom told me that the agreement was only for a feasibility study and nothing more. In yesterday's Honda Malaysia event for the media, the same question was asked to the panel of senior Honda Malaysia managers during the press conference. This time however, clearly the answer has to be an official version.
The video in this post is of the Honda Malaysia CEO Yoichiro Ueno-san's official response to this question. I am posting the video so that readers will be able to hear the whole answer themselves instead of reading my interpretation of it.
The video is captured on my Panasonic digital camera using the video mode and is in 1080p AC3 (2 channels). Unfortunately the PA system is very echo-y and this is captured by the camera. The echos makes the answer difficult to hear at times but I had the same problem during the actual press conference itself.
HONDA CITY TOPS ASEAN NCAP SAFETY RATINGS
Honda City was rated 5 Stars in Adult Occupant Protection and achieved the highest rating in Child Occupant Protection among 8 vehicles tested.
Honda Malaysia today announced that the Honda City model, has achieved 5 Stars in Adult Occupant Protection and the highest safety ratings in Child Occupant Protection in the ASEAN New Car Assessment Programme (ASEAN NCAP) crash test.
The results were released by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) at the ASEAN NCAP open day in Ayer Molek, Melaka. A total of eight car models were subjected to an offset frontal collision test at a closing speed of 64 km/h.
Honda Malaysia Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno said, “Safety is Honda’s commitment and priority. We always proactively comply with new regulations. We are pleased to note that the Honda City achieved 5 Stars rating score in the Adult Occupation Protection and highest in Child Occupant Protection. The crash test reaffirms the high safety standards of the current Honda City on Malaysian roads. In fact, all Honda cars’ safety standards and crashworthiness meet the UN Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE)’s R94 and R95 regulations. Honda is committed to continuous research and development of advanced technologies that enhance the safety of the driver and passengers.”
TIME TO FREED! HONDA MALAYSIA DEBUTS THE NEW FREED IN MALAYSIA.
Honda Malaysia Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno said, “We are pleased to introduce the New Freed, which is a product that maximizes the joy of driving for Malaysian motorists. The latest Freed is a Completely Build-Up (CBU) unit from Indonesia. To-date, Honda Malaysia has sold over 2,500 units of Freed since its launch.”
The transformed Freed features a number of enhancements that cater to young professional urban families or professionals who appreciate spending time with family and friends, and also enjoy outdoor living. It comes with 5-speed auto transmission powered by 1.5L i-VTEC engine that promises fuel efficiency with lower gravity and stable run.
Providing premium comfort to both driver and passengers, the Grade E Freed is equipped with plush leather seats while the introduction of armrest on both sides are available in both Grade E and Grade S. The driver’s seat height adjuster further emphasizes comfort based on individual preference. The extraordinary feature of the Freed is its unique flat floor design for passengers to move easily in the car. Cargo loading and unloading is also made more convenient with the low tailgate opening.
Other features of the New Freed are as follow:
| Exterior | Interior | Utility |
| · Chrome Front Grille · Chrome Rear License Plate Garnish · Stylish Front Bumper · Sporty 15” Alloy Wheels | · Dual Layer Dashboard with Chrome Plating · New Coloured Multi Layer Meter Cluster | · Automatic Sliding Doors with Remote Control* · Walkthrough Cabin · Third Row Foldable Seats |
Safety features that are available in this stylish Honda Freed MPV: dual front SRS airbags, 6-Star Japanese New Car Assessment Program (JNCAP), G-Force Control Technology (G-Con), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) and Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS).
The New Honda Freed family car comes in two variants: Grade S and Grade E. The Grade S is available in Brilliant White Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic and Crystal Black Pearl, whereas Grade E comes in Brilliant White Pearl.
Honda Malaysia offers 5 years or sixty (60) months warranty with unlimited mileage, from the date of registration. This unlimited mileage warranty is applicable only when regular preventive maintenance is performed as per required intervals. Customers are also entitled to a Free Service Coupon (FSC) to enjoy up to six times of free labour charge during service. The FSC coupon is applicable for the 1,000km; 10,000km; 30,000km; 50,000km; 70,000km and 90,000km mileage service.
The Best Urban MPV Honda Freed offers a complete package of premium comfort, spacious cabin and best utility for the best quality travel experiences to owners. The on-the-road price of Freed S is RM 99,800 and Freed E is priced at RM 113,500.
It is time to Freed! Customers can test drive and place their booking for this latest Best Urban MPV at any authorized Honda dealers nationwide. For more information, please call Honda Toll Free number at 1-800-88-2020, or log on to www.honda.com.my.
TOV talks to Erik Berkman on the new NSX
Basically he re-affirmed some of the stuff that been out there, particularly the 'reference list' of 3 or 4 performance targets (458, GT-R, McLaren MP4-12C, R8 GT). Said they have very rigid targets on power to weight ratio (which implies performance bogeys) and are very serious about meeting or surpassing those targets, but said top fuel efficiency is #1 target. Acknowledged that the competition is pretty stiff and they love the challenge. Hoping to beat the targets but noted something to the effect of 'even if we fall short, it won't be by much and it will still be one HELL of a performer' (that's paraphrased). I indicated that to me a 10th of a second here or there wouldn't matter as long a the overall driving experience was one of the best, as the past NSX offered a very rewarding driving feel/connection that other 'faster' cars couldn't touch. I said it needed stay true to Honda/NSX's roots, and to have a visceral element (high revs, high hp/l, etc...). Low mass very important to me (I DEFINITELY don't want a fat TECHNO-tank like the GT-R). He didn't comment much but seemed to be in general agreement with my sentiments. Indicated that there's a LOT of work to be done. Oh, I suggested that since they boxed themselves in with the V6 hybrid decree that a turbo would almost be a necessity to meet their performance targets and I didn't really get much of a denial, nor any sort of confirmation on that. Now I'm wishing I remembered his exact words there but several times during our conversation he indicated I should probably see if I could get any more info from some of the team members. We have a pretty good relationship with Erik, and I told him I'd like to speak to him more formally at a later point and he said he'd love to talk to us some more, but we'd obviously have to go through the proper channels to get it set up. (PR gatekeepers).
Civic loses best seller status in the U.S.
One victory but also one defeat.
In the U.S., the Honda Civic has dissappointly lost its best seller status to the Toyota Prius for last year (2012), totalling 57,124 units sold compared to 60,688 units sold for the Prius. This despite an early MMC to address the concerns from media and long time Honda fans. While many and even Honda themselves have been harping on the original 9G (i.e. pre MMC) Civic being best seller in response to criticisms of the interior and other items, the early MMC was very well received so personally the loss of the best seller status for 2012 was a big surprise and dissappointment to me.
In third place comes the Toyota Camry, with 50,250 total units sold in 2012 which is again a dissappointment to me as I had expected/was hoping that the new Accord would have helped Honda take this spot.
Nevertheless, all is not lost as Honda seems to have acquired a greater urgency and a better appreciation and response to the opinions of Honda supporters of late so hopefully things improves this year.
Honda regains No2 spot for total sales in the Japanese domestic market
After a 10 years wait, Honda finally regained its No.2 spot in the sales chart for the JDM (japanese domestic market), an achievement last made in 2002. While once again playing 2nd fiddle to mighty Toyota, Honda's total sales for 2012 is close to 50% that of Toyota, coming in at almost 750k versus Toyota's 1.65 million. Coming in close at Honda's heels is the unexpected pair of Daihatsu and Suzuki, both also achieving almost 650k total sales, and pushing the traditional strongmen of Nissan and Mazda down to No.5 and No.6 respectively.
Honda's best selling model remains the ever amazing Fit (Jazz), with the newest variant the Fit Hybrid and Fit Wagon contributing significantly to last year's sales. The Fit ended 2012 as the 3rd best selling car in the JDM selling almost 210k units. The top selling car in Japan remains the mighty Toyota Prius, ending the year with almost 320k units. Other than that, the Freed also did extremely well, ending the year in No.4 spot as top selling car in 2012.
The chart above, as well as the data in this post are provided by our Japan TOV contributor Daniel Garcia.
Top Selling Cars for 2012, Japanese Domestic Market (JDM)
1) Toyota Prius : 317,675 (+25.8%)
2) Toyota Aqua : 266,567 (new)
3) Honda Fit : 209,276 (+0.7%)
4) Honda Freed : 106,316 (+57.0%)
5) Toyota Vitz : 105,611 (-18%)
2) Toyota Aqua : 266,567 (new)
3) Honda Fit : 209,276 (+0.7%)
4) Honda Freed : 106,316 (+57.0%)
5) Toyota Vitz : 105,611 (-18%)
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