In December, Honda Malaysia announced the availability of three new colours – Storm Silver Metallic, Milano Red and Crystal Black Pearl. This year will also see HM bring in a CVT version of the CR-Z, now only available with a six-speed manual gearbox. This will further widen the appeal of the hybrid coupe, which is now only considered by enthusiasts and those with an active left leg.
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In Japan, those shopping for a CR-Z will have this special edition “Label α” model to choose from. It goes on sale this week and will be available as a limited release until the end of May. Nothing major, just bespoke burgundy pearl metallic finish on the outside with a matching interior color for the seats, door panels plus the stitching on the leather steering wheel and stick shifter.

The “Label α” also gets aluminum sport pedals and alloy wheels, the latter not standard across the range in Japan. Available in both CVT and manual form.

The 2011 Tokyo motor show was different, with Audi (A1 Sportback), BMW (ActiveHybrid 5) and VW (Cross Coupe concept and Passat Alltrack) all unveiling new metal. But much more important was what was on offer from the domestic brands. The Japanese delivered in spades at Tokyo 2011, and two themes stood out: a spate of clever commuter vehicles and a rash of affordable sports cars designed to mix performance with purity.
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During their short stay in Japan, the Sri Lankan delegates got the opportunity to visit the 42nd Japan Motor Show at Tokyo Big Site, Nissan car and engine manufacturing plants, and participated in meetings with Japanese car traders.
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RamaDBK took this opportunity to welcome with pleasure the Sri Lankan delegates to its Yokohama head office. The Sri Lankan importers had the chance to personally meet RamaDBK’s staff, to check how vehicles are purchased at auctions online and to have a look at how the office operates.

Many importers placed numerous vehicle orders with RamaDBK where they selected vehicles to be shipped back to Sri Lanka. RamaDBK is happy to have been of service to the leading vehicle and auto parts importers from Sri Lanka and is grateful for the positive feedback received by them regarding the RamaDBK’s head office and staff.

Jagath C. Ramanayake (President of RamaDBK and SLBCJ) delivered an informative presentation during the seminar regarding the main reasons for SLBCJ to call for a Motor Vehicle Summit in Tokyo which included the below:

•Over 40 years history in the car trade between Japan and Sri Lanka.
•Vehicles represent more than 50% of the total exports from Japan to Sri Lanka.
•Exports multiplied by 10 times in the past year with the new government regulations.
•Sri Lanka stood at the 6th highest vehicle importer in 2010 with 7.4% of vehicles been exported to Sri Lanka from Japan in 2010.

However, after a successful year in vehicle exports in 2010, many concerns presented themselves in 2011. Some of which included the appreciation of the Japanese Yen against other currencies, the devastating Northeast earthquake that impacted on vehicle productions and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima with the problem of radioactive contamination.

The summit aimed at resolving these concerns and assisting all parties involved in the vehicle trade of Japan and Sri Lanka. It openly encouraged ideas between the importers and exporters whilst searching for innovative solutions. Furthermore, the summit strived to assist the government and officials to design measures for prosperity of the vehicle industry in Sri Lanka and laid plans for future developments of the vehicle trade between both countries.
Most importantly the purpose of the summit was not only to promote vehicle trades between the countries but to find mutual solutions for all concerned with protecting the buyer in Sri Lanka being a high priority.

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Sri Lanka Business Council of Japan (SLBCJ) together with the Sri Lankan embassy of Tokyo has organized “SLBCJ Motor Vehicle Summit 2011”.

RamaDBK’s President Mr. Jagath Ramanayake who is also the president of the Sri Lanka Business Council of Japan said..

“during this summit it is being scheduled to make useful dialogs among the participants broadly on the concerns on Sri Lankan imports as well as the Japanese exports.

Further, we have organized a tour to visit the 42nd Japan Motor Show in Tokyo Big Site that will be held from 2nd to 11th of December 2011, also we have organized the participants from Sri Lanka to visit a leading car manufacturing factory in Kanagawa and a visit to a Japanese vehicle auction house.”

The participants for this Summit will include the senior government experts who are involved in this sector, vehicle import/ export associations and relevant private sector businesses such as buyers, sellers, auctioneers, exporters, importers etc.

Mr. Ramanayake also said that delegates from Sri Lanka are scheduled to arrive to Japan on the 5^th of December and the Summit forum will be held on the 11^th of December 2011.

This is the first time ever such event has been organized, and we RamaDBK would like to thank the Sri Lankan Embassy and the members of the Sri Lankan business council of Japan for taking the initiative in organizing the SLBCJ Motor Vehicle Summit 2011.

This is the second consecutive month when the Japan Automobile Dealers Association announce increases in vehicle sales, after a sharp decline in August.

Sales at Toyota Motor Corp. , without the Lexus brand, rose 20.4 percent, while Nissan Motor Co increased 32.5 percent and Honda Motor Co gained 19.5 percent.

Honda, the most affected Japanese automaker by Thailand’s floods withdrew its annual earnings guidance on Monday.

Mitsubishi Motors recorded an increase of 62.5 percent compared to 2010 - to 4,063 vehicles.

However, Thai floods may have a huge impact over the automotive sales for the upcoming months.

Honda Motor Co., which made about 5 percent of all its cars in Thailand last year, last week, said its factories may be flooded until mid-December resulting in a huge loss in production.

The company suspended production at Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co. Ltd., on Oct. 4 and flood waters inundated the plant four days later.

The launch of the 2012 Honda CR-V could also be delayed “slightly”.

On this occasion, Mr. Ramanayake (President of RamaDBK) and Mr. Udana Amarasinghe (Sales Coordinator) took the opportunity in welcoming Mr. Quin and his family. After understanding his requirements, Mr. Udana was able to offer Mr. Qin few buses that matched perfectly with his needs.

We pride ourselves in the long term relationships we build with customers like Mr. Quin and strive on their satisfaction. Only through the dedicated care and the attentiveness to details  are we able to engage in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Mr. Biara and his two friends are prominent employees of a construction engineering company in Fiji. They visited Japan with the intention of importing vehicles to their company. However, Mr. Biara faced a few challenges when trying to find vehicles that matched his exact requirements even though he made several visits to exporters in Japan.

Fortunately, Mr. Biara had the opportunity to visit us on this occasion. We took the pleasure in offering him our expertise and our wide range of stock. Mr. Biara was quite surprised at first with the low pricing and professional attitude offered by Mr. Jon Hurshid (Sales Coordinator), compared to the other exporters he previously visited. We were able to impress Mr. Biara but supplying him several trucks and equipments he required.

We are proud to begin a new fruitful relationship with Mr. Biara by becoming his vehicle exporter in Japan and are positive that we will be able to cater to all his vehicle needs!

The Yomiuri news paper reported today that all five key industrial zones were under water in the historic city of Ayutthaya, about a one-hour drive north of Bangkok. Many Japanese automobile and electronics manufacturers are located in the city.

It has been impossible to enter the area without a boat, and many factories are completely submerged.

About 320 Japanese companies suffered damage from the floods.

It is expected to take several months before full operations resume, and companies are rushing to find alternate production facilities or supply routes for parts.

Thailand, home to many parts makers, plays a critical role in the global supply chain. If disruptions are prolonged, it could upset manufacturers worldwide, according to Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co.

Flood-hit Honda seeks tax exemption

The Thailand-based subsidiary of Japan’s major car maker Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd on Tuesday asked the Thai government to exempt tax on the import of cars and auto parts to help ease its tax burden as its factory was severely hit by the country’s worst flooding in decades which submerged hundreds of its new cars and halted its production line.

Pitak Pruttisarikorn, senior vice president of Honda Automobile Thailand, told reporters of the request after meeting with Industry Minister Wannarat Charnnukul and discussing the impact of the current flooding.

Mr Pitak said he has asked the government to exempt tax collection on the import of car spare parts and machinery from non-ASEAN countries to lessen the flood impacts on business overall and to shore up the auto industry.

The Honda executive pledged that the company will take care of the 6,000 workers in its Rojana Industrial Park plant, as well as its approximately 100 dealers nationwide as it does not want to stop production amid fears that this could affect a series of small- and medium enterprises.

Mr Pitak said the total damage at its Rojana factory has not yet been estimated as it is still submerged.

The Honda executive said the company currently produces 170,000 vehicles annually, but the volume of production now depends on the flood situation.

The Japanese automaker executive assured the Thai government that the company would not relocate its production base elsewhere after 47 years of investment in the kingdom.

“Although the flooding disrupts the export of auto parts, (we) will try to find sources from other countries to compensate for the shortage,” Mr Pitak stated.

The industry minister said he would bring up the request to discuss with the Board of Investment (BOI), the finance ministry and the cabinet next week.

Honda earlier said it had closed its production lines from last Tuesday after two industrial estates in Thailand’s historic city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, were inundated.

Hundreds of new Honda cars were submerged in its factory in Rojana Industrial Park. (MCOT online news)

Toyota, which has suffered through a bout of recalls and the Japan earthquake, is pinning its hopes for the future on its crown jewel, the top-selling car in the U.S.

Toyota executives are betting on the new Camry to jump-start the company’s future. The new 2012 model isn’t radically different from its predecessor, but it’s harder to redesign the mass-appeal Camry than a Ferrari.

The new Toyota Camry looks lower to the ground, is less rounded and has slightly more masculine styling. But the thing is, it still looks like a Toyota Camry.
[Source : NPR]