02 Models posing with the All-New HR-V

Honda has seen sales in Thailand rise sharply for the first two months of 2015, bucking the overall market trend. Honda Automobile (Thailand) reported a 42.6% year-on-year jump to 18,892 vehicles sold in Jan-Feb 2015, while the Thai market in general saw an 11.8% dip to 123,670 units.

Bangkok Post reports that the Japanese carmaker's strong performance was partly attributed to backorders for some new models, especially the Honda HR-V that was launched in November 2014. The compact SUV has been a hit in the Land of Smiles, racking up 15,000 bookings, with 8,000 units delivered so far.

Boosted by this strong start, Honda Thailand is expecting 2015 sales to increase by 10% to around 110,000 to 120,000 units. This is on the back of a relatively poor 2014 - last year, Honda reported a sales drop of 50% to 106,482 vehicles.

The daily reports that a second Honda factory in Prachin Buri province (main plant is in Ayutthaya) is set to start producing subcompact cars from March 2016 with an annual capacity of 120,000 units. Production of auto parts will start this October.

The H brand is also on a roll in Malaysia. As of the first quarter of 2015, the company remains the top-selling non-national passenger carmaker, with 21,563 units sold from Jan-Apr 2015 – 38% up from the same period last year. The HR-V has amassed over 10,000 bookings since its February launch - check out our walk-around video and test drive report to learn more about this hot-selling model.