by Business Mirror, Andrea E. San Juan
Honda Marine and marine engine distributor and ship manufacturer Propmech Corp. have launched Honda Marine BF350 V8, a “purely marine” engine.
The two companies said the new engine, which is “20 percent more efficient,” will be marketed to operators of commercial and tourist vessels.
“From the test that we’ve done, it’s somewhere around 20 percent difference in the efficiency. Meaning that you have 20 percent more distance-time operations, which is very useful in the Philippines’s case because sometimes we have to go quite far out and the ability to operate for longer time when you’re in further distances gives you an advantage carrying less fuel,” Propmech Corp. CEO Glenn Tong told reporters during a press briefing in Manila on Wednesday.
Yoshihiro Takahashi, Department Manager of Business Planning Department, Marine Business Division, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., said with the fuel-efficient 350-horsepower engine can be beneficial for operators of boats in the commercial and aquaculture sectors and the Philippine Coast Guard. It can also be installed in taxi boats.
Honda said the BF350 engine is its “most advanced” outboard motor, featuring a V8 engine designed for “longer, smoother” journeys.
Tong said the price of the BF350 engine ranges from P2 million to P2.5 million.
Honda said the current size of the Philippine outboard motor market is 2,000 units. Given the economic growth and the country being an “island nation,” the company said the demand will increase annually.
“As boats become larger, global demand of high-power outboard engines is increasing,” said Honda PHilippines CEO Sayaka Arai.
In the case of the Philippines, she said, “We also see the market growth of high power range.”
The BF350 had already been launched in other countries–Japan, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Over 1,000 units of the engine were sold last year.
Meanwhile, Tong said Propmech has sold over a thousand vessels with Honda equipment with horsepower (hp) ranging from 40 hp to 350 hp.
“Now, this is a different size. Because before they had 40 horsepower, 60 horsepower. The biggest used to be 150, then later it became 200. Now they put out the 350, which we have been begging them for years. Because so many of the applications need a triple 350 horsepower because there’s a certain speed they’re looking for,” Tong said.
“For some of the governments, they want to have the ability to chase. They want people to outrun some of the, let’s say, smugglers. It cannot just be efficient; it needs to be fast enough too.”