Honda and Mazda, the ignored Japanese brands

Japan is the world’s largest automobile manufacturer and exporter, and has six of the world’s 10 largest automobile manufacturers.

In addition to its massive automobile industry, Japan also is home to manufacturers of other types of vehicles, like power sports manufacturers Kawasaki and Yamaha, and heavy equipment manufacturers Komatsu and Hitachi.

It is home to some of the world’s largest automotive companies such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Subaru.

In Uganda we love Japanese cars. Not only because they are affordable (when second hand anyway) but their reliability is always second to none.

However, three of the above mentioned brands - Mazda, Honda and Suzuki - are not doing so well in Uganda. These are brands that are going exceptionally well on the world stage but just not in Uganda.

As you might know many car purchases are based on cost, resale value, ‘what my neighbour’s friend said’, what the other guy in the bar believes’, ‘what everyone is driving’ or simply ‘what is available on the market’.

Nonetheless with advent of the internet, many car buyers have a much wider choice.  Mazda and Honda have started  appearing on Ugandan roads with cars such as the Mazda Premacy, Mazda Atenza and Honda Fit.

For Honda, the perceived quality and reliability may have been influenced by its lacklustre products like the first generation Honda CR-V manufactured between 1995 and 2001.

It was a direct competitor to the extremely popular Toyota Rav 4 with zero chance of making a dent. The CR-V had so many gremlins with hard-to-find and definitely expensive parts.

Resale value was abysmal with virtually all buyers in Uganda getting burnt. Honda is a brand that commands worldwide respect, a sentiment that is twisted for CR-V owners in the Pearl of Africa.

On the other hand though there are several proud owners of the Honda Civics and many Honda Fit cars are filtering through. On the global stage Honda has won several accolades in reliability surveys.

Mazda is a different story all together.

Ugandans have just never liked this brand, period.

It is simply a hard brand to own in Uganda for two reasons. 

First off ,no one shall want to buy it from you and secondly, its spare parts are a hard find.

Looking back, Mazda was a victim of the Asian financial crisis in 1997. During this time, Ford acquired 39.9 per cent of the company creating a collaboration between the two marques, sharing engine design and technologies and even some platforms for instance Ford Escape with Mazda Tribute and Ford Focus with the Mazda Axela.

Mazda has been preaching the sportiness gospel in recent years with many of their models following in line.

From a design stand point, Mazda has evolved into a desirable brand with very many interesting design cues.

Although awareness of those brands in Uganda is relatively low compared with that of more established brands, drivers who were familiar with them hold Honda and Mazda in high regard.

Toyota continues to dominate in brand perception.

Nevertheless the perceived difference between Toyota and the challengers is shrinking. Reliability and ease of maintenance are one of the key attributes that buyers look for when looking to make a used purchase.

While Honda and Mazda do provide the former., the only speed bump in our setting really is the typical service parts and even worse is the hard-to-find longer term service parts like suspension parts.

Andrew Tabu, a seller of used suspension parts at Sinani Auto Parts in Kisekka Market has always talked about the troubled car maintenance lives Honda and Mazda drivers lead in Uganda.

Specific models he mentioned include the Honda CRV and the Mazda Demio with the gearbox and suspensions respectively almost always failing with both cars.

The thing is, cars these days are very intricate electro-mechanical devices, and things are bound to break. Keep your expectations real, and deal with the problems calmly if/when they arise. The most important things to remember is proper maintenance is what keeps a car on the road trouble-free.

Comparison

While both Honda and Mazda are Japanese automakers that offer competing products the two focus on different things.

Honda offers more models and sells more cars. Its priorities are the mass market and overall value, with a hint of sportiness. Mazda works to appeal to a more specialized market, with greater emphasis on styling and nimble handling. While Honda’s vehicles are widely known for their dependability and family-friendliness, Mazda touts its vehicles’ “fun-to-drive” status and head-turning good looks.

usnews.com