'Where we are is exactly where we want to be'

摘要

Two years ago, Honda predicted its UK dealer network would enjoy 80,000 annual registrations and a doubling of profits by the end of 2017. Last year, the brand registered 53,417 cars in the UK, flat on 2014, leaving it some way short of its target. So when Phil Crossman, managing director, Honda UK, tells AM that "where we are is exactly where we want to be", he reveals how ambitions have been tempered for the Japanese brand. However, Crossman insists there is cause for optimism - a new range of products, improved customer retention and the promise of "natural, organic growth". Honda UK's ambitious 2017 targets were designed to arrest a decline that developed as a "perfect storm" - the global recession, Japan's tsunami and the Thai floods - caused production levels to stutter and weakened the yen.