Nowadays, the gen z generation are getting their first car either bought from their parents or buying it on own self after getting their car license or their first massive income. In short video platforms, such as TikTok, the video of getting a new car mostly appeared Honda Civic. As a Toyota owner, I always wanted to know why many youngsters like Honda more than Toyota as they are two top Japanese car brands.
On the first half of 2023, Toyota’s sales are higher than Honda’s. Toyota sold 48,145 units while Honda sold 33,727 units on January to June 2023. However, the visibility of new car on the road, Honda’s is more than Toyota’s. We can see that Toyota’s recon cars (Toyota Alphard, Toyota Vellfire, Toyota Harrier and more) are more visible than their newest cars (2023 Toyota Vios, 2023 Toyota Corolla GR Sport and more). Meanwhile, Honda’s newest cars (Honda City, Honda City Hatchback, Honda HR-V, Honda Civic) are more visible than their recond cars (Honda S660, Honda N Box).
In 2023, many car gatherings are also been announced by some car clubs or societies. On September 10th 2023, I attended a car gathering at Uniqlo Limbongan Melaka. Around 12:30 am, a bunch of Honda City Hatchback appeared at there which was having a huge amount of 11. After an hour, more Honda City Hatchback had appeared there, which make half of the parking of Uniqlo Limbongan Melaka contains Honda City Hatchback. On the other side, I haven’t seen Toyota car owners having this kind of gathering, but that doesn’t mean there not having this kind of car gathering.
Amos, a Honda City owner, agreed that Malaysia young drivers preferred Honda more than Toyota and claimed that Honda’s car is more powerful due to their engine. “The engine of Honda is the part that attracted people to buy it”, said Amos. He also stated that younger drivers prefer Honda is because youngsters capture the speed which Honda prioritize, while Toyota is being more comfort. As an elaboration, Amos noted that Honda empowered their engine while Toyota enhance their handling (TNGA platform).
Amos said that if he has to choose again that Honda or Toyota to be his first car, he will still choose a Honda even Toyota is a more durable car but he prefers the power of Honda. Amos said that he feels happy to be a Honda owner as Honda is more popular in his social circle.
Khai Jun, a Toyota 86 owner, also agreed that Malaysia young drivers preferred Honda more than Toyota. The reason that he mentioned is that Honda is way cheaper and it comes with good looking and quite a lot of stuff to mod with. “Honda is sportier than Toyota while Toyota is more reliable” said Khai Jun. As an owner of the Toyota 86, Khai Jun stated that he chose Toyota is because he chooses reliability more than the looks even the looks of Toyota are not inferior to Honda. However, the advantage of Toyota is also a con to the owner as Toyota is more durable and more reliable, you can sell it with a nice price but you need to pay a high range price to buy one.
Khai Jun also said that Honda overall is an affordable car but it also has many of expensive options. The price getting higher while you choosing newer tech and features such as Honda SENSING and Honda CONNECT. Despite Honda being too cookie-cutter, it is an excellent vehicle to choose and some users would rather buy something that makes them stand out from the crowd. If letting him choosing his first car, he will still be choosing a Toyota.
Jayden, a Suzuki Swift Sport owner and worked as car reviewer in auto123 channel. He agreed that Malaysia young drivers preferred Honda more than Toyota by actual analytics. In Jayden’s opinion, Honda has a better design, better specifications, more modifications and better performance than Toyota while Toyota is more reliable and durable on using. And if he like to choose again his first car, he will prefer Honda. As the top sport cars, Honda Civic Type R and Toyota GR Supra, Jayden said that it is hard to choose because both are very nice car but he will be choosing the newest Honda Civic Type R FL5 as he loves manual car more.
As a car reviewer, Jayden said he will suggest young drivers their first car depends on what they really want. If a female young driver doesn’t want to worry about the maintenance fee and repair fee, he will suggest a Toyota. And if a male young driver that want a performance but affordable car, he will suggest a Honda.
We already know that Toyota’s sales are higher than Honda’s in Q1 2023, but why? Amos and Khai Jun said that Toyota is way cheaper than Honda and more reliable, and these are the main reason that Toyota having more sales than Honda. While Jayden stated that Honda waiting list for new car is way too long, that directly affected the sales of Honda. But if take the same car segment of both brand, newest Toyota Vios and Honda City, Honda City’s sales is more than Toyota Vios. This shows out that Toyota have some more popular car brings up the total sales of Toyota, which is Toyota Hilux and Honda don’t have this type of pick-up truck for their users.
“The car brand that most seen on the road is oldest model of Toyota” said Khai Jun. While Amos and Jayden have another point of view, he said that the numbers of Toyota and Honda on the road will be the same.
In the conclusion, all the interviewees agreed that Malaysia young drivers preferred Honda more than Toyota and it is because Honda follow what youngsters want and need that brings out the attractions to them. Do you agreed Malaysia young drivers preferred Honda than Toyota? Or what do you prefer more? The answer is with you.
*All the images was taken by the author
Henry Lim Chin Xin is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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