Japanese motorcycle firms in joint drive to boost sales

MANILA, Philippines - Four Japanese motorcycle companies have launched a campaign that seeks to encourage consumers to consider safety, quality and originality of design in purchasing motorcycles amid lower sales.

Sunday Julaton, national sales and marketing manager of Honda Philippines, Inc., which is part of the initiative, said in a press conference for the launch of the “Original na Bida” campaign, that they are embarking on the campaign to allow consumers to make informed choices when they make a purchase.

“This advocacy is geared for a continuous healthy motorcycle market. We need to educate people of good brands,” he said.

The campaign, which involves promoting the advantages of using original motorcycles and parts to ensure road safety was launched by Honda Philippines with Kawasaki Motors Philippines Corp., Suzuki Philippines  Inc. and Yamaha Motor Philippines Inc.

The campaign highlights that by purchasing original motorcycles and their parts, consumers are assured of high-quality products which were made with extensive research and development, strict quality control and testing.

The initiative was launched amid declining motorcycle sales of the four firms.

An industry source told reporters sales of the four firms have declined 14 percent year-on-year in the January to August period with consumers shifting to cheaper Chinese brands.

Motorcycle sales of Chinese brands, meanwhile, were up 16 percent as of end-August from a year ago.

Most of the Chinese brands of motorcycles sold in the market, the source said, are similar to the designs of Japanese brands.

Generoso Paralisan, assistant vice president for external affairs of Honda Philippines, told reporters that given instances of motorcycle designs of Japanese brands being copied by others, the four companies have already filed complaints with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

Transport assistant secretary Dante Lantin said in the same event that as 12 percent of road accidents are due to vehicle defects, it is important for motorcycle companies to have such a campaign to inform consumers of the safety features of their products.

“In the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications), we are encouraging manufacturers to take part in promoting safety,” he said.

He also said it is necessary for motorcycle companies to inform consumers of the safety features of their products with more than 50 percent of the vehicles on the road accounted for by motorcycles.