Brunei is a car market, but a motorcycle dealer is going against the tide as it debuts Honda motorbikes yesterday, banking on the growing motorcycle market in the Sultanate.

BTop Motors Sdn Bhd, the sole dealer of Honda motorcycles in Brunei, organised a soft launch of its showroom yesterday in Beribi, showcasing its latest range of motorcycles from its popular range of sport bikes to dirt bikes and touring bikes.

Sean Yapp, sales and marketing manager, said, "There is definitely a growing market for motorcycles in Brunei."

He said that sales have been increasing every year, based on his market research.

"It's still a very small share in terms of the whole automobile industry, but it is rising in percentage as a whole so that's definitely something we look forward to," he said.

"In terms of the majority of Bruneians that use motorcycles primarily as a hobby, even as a hobby itself it's already a progressive trend. If you start as a hobby, and after many years of getting accustomed to it, the users perception will change, it may become a necessity to them," he said.

"We've got a line of scooters coming in soon and we hope to penetrate towards the younger generation," he said.

"We hope to create an awareness among the young adults in Brunei, such as university or higher institution students in particular, to see the affordability of motorcycles, and how they make much sense for students on allowances who cannot afford to purchase cars, where scooters can be the most inexpensive and cost-efficient method of transportation for them," he said.

"Aside from that we are also targeting on tenders with the government and private firms as well, such as post offices, police, pizza deliveries, and such. Clearly there's a market potential there as well," he added.

Yapp said that they hope to change the perspective of people in order to boost interest.

"The main reason why the majority people in Brunei are still hesitant towards motorcycles is due to the perception of safety. That's definitely something that we're targeting to fix. We want to educate the people here to make them understand that motorcycles aren't actually that bad as a mode of transportation," he said.

"There are things that we need to make people aware of, and in the case of safety, new safety features that are available in our motorcycles today such as mounted airbags and an electronic damper, as well as safety equipment such as inflatable airbag jackets," he added.

He said the company also plans to conduct safety demonstrations, educating not only the motorcyclists on road safety but also car users on how to respect the motorcyclists on the road.

Yapp said Honda bikes' price range is competitive, with prices starting at around $5,000 for scooters and basic motorcycles and $20,000 to $30,000 for the CBR line of sports bikes and touring bikes.

He hopes for market penetration for the motorbikes and for a sales boost in the first two years.

"There has been a lot of anticipation for the Honda brand of motorcycles in Brunei because it's pretty exclusive right now, as there has been no Honda motorcycle dealers in the past. We've only got brands such as Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha and the Harley's. The Honda that exists in Brunei until today only deals with cars," he said.

He said motorcycle enthusiasts and hobbyists have waited for Honda motorbikes to arrive in the market because they are aware of the brand's popularity over the years and have longed for the brand to be available in the market.

"It seems as an obvious and timely move for us to bring Honda to Brunei. Bruneians are aware of the brand. Honda really has made a name for itself over the years in the Sultanate and globally, especially in terms of quality. That somehow makes our job here a lot easier. There's not much brand advertising needed for us to do. People immediately have the perception of what Honda is when the name is mentioned," he said.

"We're hoping for a healthy competition once we penetrate the market. Brand loyalty is pretty strong in Brunei. We would be very happy if we can see quite a fair number of Honda motorcycles to appear on the road. Hopefully at least we'll have a good footing in the market and gain a good market share," he added.

The two-storey showroom is equipped with a dedicated service centre for Honda motorcycles and storekeep for spare parts.

"We really want to focus on after-sales service. Based on our market research in Brunei we have found that after-sale is the one that comes in people's mind before they buy the vehicle, such as avoiding overcharges for spare parts, not wanting a mechanic that doesn't know what they're doing, etc."

He said that the company is hoping to ensure a quick turnover in terms of the spare parts with a quick reordering system. "We definitely want to keep it consistent so that our inventory is constantly updated when it gets to the minimum level," he said.

Yapp said the showroom will be officially launched on August 3.

-  The Brunei Times/Asia News Network