During his opening speech that commemorated the launch of the refreshed 2018 Honda HR-V, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) President Mr. Noriyuki Takakura stressed the importance of crossovers and SUVs to Honda’s line-up in the country.

Mr. Takakura says that 2018 has been a challenging year for HCPI as it is for the other players in the Philippine automotive industry. Sales for the first-half of 2018 is down compared to the same period last year because buyers advanced their car purchases ahead of the TRAIN Law’s implementation. The TRAIN Law resulted in higher car prices, especially for vehicles in the “sweet spot” of P 1.4 million to P 2 million.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Atty. Louie Soriano, HCPI Division Head for Sales and Spokesperson who said that the industry will struggle to equal 2017’s record-number of 476,000 vehicles sold. This is despite the industry’s efforts to reach out to potential buyers with various marketing and sales promotions.

Nonetheless, Mr. Takakura says that crossovers and SUVs remain a bright spot in HCPI’s line-up this year. Despite the introduction of newer competitors and even increased sales promotion (i.e. discounting) by other brands, HCPI’s SUV segment managed to move 5,067 units or a growth of 9 percent from January to June compared to the same period in 2017.

Honda’s 7-seater offerings, the BR-V and CR-V continue to be the Japanese carmaker’s banner products. The pioneering 7-seater sub-compact SUV, the BR-V, sold a total of 2,191 units in the first-half of 2018 increasing its total sales number to 11,000 units since its launch in December 2016. Furthermore, Honda’s first-ever turbodiesel 7-seater SUV, the CR-V sold 1,775 units from January to June 2018 for a cumulative total of 5,205 units so far. The CR-V’s feat represents a 569 percent year-on-year growth in 2018 thus far. It must be noted though that the all-new CR-V was launched to the market in August of last year which explains its tremendous sales growth.

Those impressive numbers mean that the BR-V is the second-best-selling sub-compact SUV beating both the Mitsubishi Xpander and Toyota Rush. Meanwhile, the CR-V is the country’s best-selling compact SUV beating the Hyundai Tucson and Subaru Forester.

With the introduction of the refreshed HR-V, HCPI aims to capture a larger share of the sub-compact crossover market, especially those who are keen on space and utility. The addition of the RS variant also adds a dose of style and differentiation as well.

HCPI’s strong SUV and crossover performance means that they remain confident and bullish about the Philippine auto industry. With that, they’re continuing to expand their dealer footprint with the opening of Honda Cars Baliuag last June. It will be soon joined by Honda Cars Tagum which will bring their total number of dealerships to 39 by the end of this year.