Thai Honda Manufacturing Co, a motorcycle manufacturer and distributor, aims to outpace the estimated growth of the country's motorcycle market by 3% this year as its looks forward to expansion into the electric motorcycle segment.
The projection is partly driven by more than 50,000 accumulated pre-orders from last year.
The company is conducting a feasibility study on electric motorcycles for sale in both domestic and overseas markets.
"The EV [electric vehicle] industry in Thailand tends to grow further, thanks to the government's policy to support the industry," said Shiketo Kimura, president of Thai Honda Manufacturing.
"We believe the electric motorcycle market in Thailand will be materialised once demand reaches 200,000 units over the next two years."
Honda expects the Thai motorcycle market to grow by 2% to 1.64 million units in 2022, driven by economic recovery, while Honda motorcycle sales are expected to grow by 5% to 1.3 million units, he said.
In 2021, the Thai motorcycle market recorded total sales of 1.61 million units. Honda had total sales of 1.23 million units.
"Honda expects Thailand's motorcycle market to recover slowly in line with economic recovery. The government's stimulus packages to boost the economy will also benefit the motorcycle market," said Mr Kimura.
Thai Honda Manufacturing was established last year, following the merger of A.P. Honda Co and Thai Honda Manufacturing Co.
The synergy is believed to be improving the operation system, increasing the efficiency of the company and supply chains for competition.
Honda has been a major motorcycle maker in Thailand for 33 years. Its sales volume in 2021 helped the company maintain its top ranking in the domestic market.
Thailand has three segments of motorcycles, including family motorcycles, which maintained the highest level of popularity in the country, with total sales of 839,873 units, followed by 686,045 units in the AT (automatic) segment and 85,160 units in the sport segment.
Mr Kimura said the Honda Wave 110i model was ranked first in Thailand with a sales volume of 530,408 units, representing a 52% market share.
Honda has production capacity of 1.76 million units a year. A total of 82% of locally manufactured motorcycles are sold within the country and the rest are exported.