Honda Australia has trumped its Japanese rivals by suddenly announcing a five-year, unlimited distance warranty across its entire passenger product portfolio effective from July 1.
The new warranty replaces a three-year/100,000km program and now becomes standard on all new Hondas except for commercial applications. New vehicles sold for rental or taxi fleets are instead offered with a five year/140,000km cover.
Honda Australia director Stephen Collins said the move makes it the first Japanese company to offer such an extensive peace-of-mind package, though the same warranty is offered by Skoda and Renault.
"It was introduced to provide greater confidence in buying a new Honda," he said.
"We are putting the customer at the centre of what we are doing and show we are very serious about improving the customer experience.”
Mr Collins said the new warranty would help Honda attain its target of 48,000 vehicle sales this calendar year.
Mr Collins said the new warranty would be funded purely by Honda Australia and was unique in the world but had the full approval and support from the head office in Japan.
Talking of the new warranty, Mr Collins said it was purely customer related and was not in reaction to any issues or problems. He also dismissed suggestions that the warranty could be extended even further.
"We feel that with a five-year warranty we are competitive in the market but we don"t see a need to extend that even further," he said in reaction to the seven-year warranty available by Korean-rival Kia.
Mr Collins said the new warranty would help Honda attain its target of 48,000 vehicle sales this calendar year.
"We are just under 22,000 sales now and that is an 11 per cent rise on the previous year," he said.
"We are on target for sales and we think that with the warranty, and with the launch of the new CR-V and (Civic) Type R in the second half of the year, we will have a higher result than the first half."
Mr Collins said the new warranty does not replace the existing Warranty Plus option – which includes added benefits such as roadside assistance – and is "a separate cover".
Honda Australia will also retain its annual or 10,000km service intervals and Mr Collins sees no need to change that schedule. Honda introduced a capped-price service program in 2013.
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