São Paulo – Brazilian motorcycle manufacturer Honda is attempting to expand its business in the Arab world. The information was supplied by the international Operations manager of the company, Marcos Yutaka Miazima. The brand, whose motorcycle factory is located in the state of Amazonas, exported 226 motorcycles to Morocco, an Arab country in North Africa, in the first half of this year.
According to Miazima, a Moto Honda Amazonas exports exclusive models, which are not manufactured at other factory units of the brand. The motorcycles shipped to the Moroccan market were the NXR 125 Bros Es, CBX 250 Twister, XR 250 Tornado and NX4 Falcon models. The most exported model was XR 250 Tornado, according to information supplied by the company.
In addition to its first-quarter sales, Honda sold ten more motorcycles to Morocco in October. According to Miazima, the group is making an effort to expand its business in the Arab world, but is met with strong Chinese competition. “The Chinese competitors have proven unbeatable when it comes to pricing,” he claimed.
The manager of International Operations at the company explains that the Brazilian exchange rates also make expansion in the Arab world more difficult. “In terms of models manufactured in Brazil, the “exchange rate factor” leads our products to become less and less competitive. In Morocco, the motorcycles head for the authorized dealership for the brand, Univers Motors.
Honda is originally Japanese and was founded in Brazil in 1971. The brand’s factory in the state of Amazonas makes motorcycles, quadricycles and stationary engines. The company leads in the Brazilian motorcycle market, with 12 million units produced in 2008. In 1997, Honda also opened an automobile factory in the country, in the interior of the state of São Paulo.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
