The 10-step marketing plan outlines Honda's strategy to target young working professionals in the Philippines with the Honda City subcompact sedan. Honda City aims to position itself as the only entry-level luxury sedan through superior design, a 10-22% price premium over competitors, and by focusing distribution in key areas to dominate its niche market. The plan involves TV, internet and event advertising to promote the Honda City and capture its target 1.35 billion peso market share.

1. 10 STEP
Marketing Plan for
Honda City
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/
Jeffrey S. Haber
March 2013

2. Disclaimer
This 10 Step Marketing Plan is part of the
mandatory requirements of Prof. Remigio Joseph
De Ungria’s AGSB marketing management class.
The data included in this report are based on
publicly available data such as those on internet
websites, news, package declarations, public
reports.
When appropriate, data are “masked” so as not to
create unexpected conflicts.
The reports are posted and linked on slideshare,
blogs and facebook so that there is easier sharing
among students from different marketing classes.
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

3. Steps 1 to 5
A City You Can See Yourself In
1. Honda City PTM are exceptional young
buyers for entry-level subcompact
sedan
2. Who wants to reflect their aspiration
and “change the rules”
3. Can choose Toyota Vios, Chevrolet
Aveo, Hyundai Accent, etc.
4. Gap is all others are low cost
5. The market size is P 140 Billion.
Honda City Niche is P 1.35 Billion.
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

4. Steps 6 to 10
The Pulse of the City
6. City has an outstanding design among
its competitors
7. Is priced 10% more than Vios and
Accent, 22% more than Aveo
8. Uses TV, events, internet
9. Is distributed in key areas only
10. Uses a niche the best among the rest
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5. Part 1: Steps 1 to 5
Positioning to the
Primary Target Market
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6. 1. Honda City PTM are the
working class professionals
 24-40 years old, social class B and C,
single or married
 Young active enthusiasts who lead a
busy life, are focused and dedicated
for their work but also conscious
about looks and fashion
 Synonymous to comfort, would have a
good mileage and will gave an
amazing pick up
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7. PTM Worth the Trip Every
Time
I feel proud when driving with
class
I want to attract opposite sex
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8. 2. Professionals have unique
Needs, Wants & Demands
 Professionals need to reflect work
elegance and career milestone,
boosting their self-esteem
 Professionals choose Honda City over
other sedan to separate their
sophisticated image to Taxi Cars
 Professionals demands class-leading
sense of driving ease and style to
feel more sexually attractive
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9. 3a. Honda City has many
tough competitors
 Direct: Toyota Vios, Hyundai Accent,
etc.
 Indirect: FX/Taxi, Jeeps, Buses, MRT,
LRT, Bike
 Variables: Age, Price, Convenience of
Use, Availability, Brand
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

10. 3b. Competitive Position Map
Price vs. Design and Usage
Low Price High Price
Toyota
Used by Taxi Vios
Hyundai
Chevrolet Accent
Luxury Design Aveo Honda
City
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

11. 4. Honda City positions in a
niche market opportunity
Honda City is the only entry-level sedan
 With luxurious design carrying strong
brand name equivalent to comfort
 Who wants to segregate itself to the others
by its reputation for not being used as a
Taxi Cab.
Chevrolet Aveo is trying to catch up with
this position
Others focus on basic car accessories,
low price and cheap looking designs
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12. 4. “Positioning”: brand
identity from the maker
Forever change the rules.
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13. 5a. Based on Competition data,
car sales is 171k units
Toyota dominates this market
as almost all the South Asian
markets. In 2012 it sold 65.396
vehicles with a share of 35.6%
almost stable across the entire
year.
Honda was 5th, selling 11.396
units with a share of 6.2%,
declined in the second half of
the year due to low
performance in Q4, when share
was 5.7%.
Reference:
http://focus2move.com/component/k2/item/464-philippines-car-market-in-
2012-hit-new-record-sales
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

14. 5a. Based on Competition data,
Honda City sales ≈ 1900 units
Honda City was
ranked 9th for selling
1843 units by
December 2012
Reference:
http://focus2move.com/component/k2/item/464-philippines-car-market-in-
2012-hit-new-record-sales
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

15. 5b. Based on Consumer data,
Car sales is 112k units
Reference:
http://www.campiauto.org/downloads/2012-dec.pdf
http://business.inquirer.net/97551/nov-vehicle-sales-up-21-says-campi
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

16. 5c. Extracting Company data,
Honda City mkt share ≈ P1.6 B
 Average price for Honda City ≈ P 822k
 1900 units x P 822k = P 1.6 Billion
 Market Share ≈ 171 k = P 140 Billion
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17. Part 2: Steps 6 to 10
The Marketing Mix
Strategy
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18. 6a. Subcompact Sedan is
Dominated by 3 Major Brands
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19. 6b. What makes Honda City
different as a product?
Honda City is the only entry-level sedan
 That mirror image of your personality
 Make your driving experience delightful
and pleasurable
 Luxurious sedan with Euro-4 Level
standards having clean emission above
average
 With G-Force Control technology
provides enhanced passive safety
shielding
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

20. 6c. Honda City offers
3 variants in 5 flavors
Variants:
1. Honda City 1.5E AT
2. Honda City 1.3S AT
3. Honda City 1.3S MT
Colors:
1. Sparkling Brown
2. Urban Titanium
3. Crystal Black
4. Taffeta White
5. Habanero Red
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

21. 7. Price of Subcompact Sedan
Vary from P585k to P836k
PRICE PER UNIT BASED ON CURRENT MARKET (MARCH 15, 2013)
Engine Honda City Toyota Vios Hyundai Chevrolet Aveo
Accent
Size Manua Auto Manua Auto Manua Auto Manua Auto
l l l l
1.3 L 588
1.3 L 621
1.3 L 746 786 712 747
1.4 L 585
1.4 L 618 708 638 719
1.5 L 836 824
City is generally priced 10% premium to
1.6 L 828
Vios and Accent, 22% premium to Aveo.
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

22. 8a. Honda City uses TV and
Internet Ads, Auto Show
1
2
3
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23. 8a. Promotions
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24. 8b. Toyota remains # 1
moving forward
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25. 9. Honda City is distributed in
Key Areas by Honda Cars Phil
 Key areas only
 Pick up by customers
 Cash and credit transactions
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26. 10. Honda City is a Niche
Leader
Honda City’s main strategy is to
dominate the niche market of Luxury
designed high-class car within the
subcompact sedan division
Has an excellent, premium priced product
distributed in key district areas
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

27. Steps 1 to 5
A City You Can See Yourself In
1. Honda City PTM are exceptional young
buyers for entry-level subcompact
sedan
2. Who wants to reflect their aspiration
and “change the rules”
3. Can choose Toyota Vios, Chevrolet
Aveo, Hyundai Accent, etc.
4. Gap is all others are low cost
5. The market size is P 140 Billion.
Honda City Niche is P 1.35 Billion.
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

28. Steps 6 to 10
The Pulse of the City
6. City has an outstanding design among
its competitors
7. Is priced 10% more than Vios and
Accent, 22% more than Aveo
8. Uses TV, events, internet
9. Is distributed in key areas only
10. Uses a niche the best among the rest
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/

29. 10 STEP
Marketing Plan for
Honda City
http://jeffreyhaber08.blogspot.com/
Jeffrey S. Haber
March 2013