No matter which way you look at it, local-assembling 1 million cars is an achievement not many can claim, especially if the company in question is foreign. Honda Malaysia can add that to their growling list of achievements. Perhaps rolling out its 1 millionth car could have come sooner, albeit by a few weeks, if not for the halt in production due to COVID-19. And it’s only about a year ago, Honda Malaysia sold its 1 millionth production car.
“It’s has been 20 years since Honda Malaysia’s establishment in the country. We have evolved and recorded significant achievements since then. In March 2021, we achieved the 1 millionth sale unit milestone with all Malaysians,” said Ms Madoka Chujo, Honda Malaysia’s Managing Director and CEO. “Just one year later, I am now celebrating another significant milestone with all of you – the 1 millionth production unit; which is the All-New Civic.”
It was nearly 20 years ago, in 2003, that the plant in Pegoh, Melaka, rolled out the 2nd-generation Honda CR-V. Back then, the company only had one production line capable of producing 50,000 cars per year. 10 years later, the plant grew from 46,543.00 square metres to 49,150.50 square metres. This allowed the Pegoh Plant to add another production line, levelling up its annual capacity to 100,000 units. The production lines are also made agile to allow the assembly of multiple models at the same time.
Currently, the plant produces the City, City Hatchback, Civic, Accord, BR-V, HR-V and CR-V, and all of their respective variants. This means vehicles featuring e:HEV, VTEC Turbocharged, Honda SENSING and Honda CONNECT are put together in Melaka.
Since then, more investments have been made to put the Malaysia plant on the same pedestal as the Japan plant. Technologies such as Lazer Brazing that smooths out the roofline, Inner Frame Welding to strengthen the vehicle’s rigidity and Spray Polyurethane Foam to reduce NVH are applied to the process.
With 1 Million units produced, Malaysia has become one of Honda’s key markets. And with the right market demand, perhaps imported models like the Odyssey and other grey market offerings can start assembly here. One can only hope.
