Signs of life from Japan's Honda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Can it get any worse?” is more than likely a rhetorical question the good folks at Japan’s Honda's HQ are trying to avoid asking themselves.

No doubt, the past few years of lacklustre North American product launches, what’s looking like a massive financial hit for the once-perennially-profitable automaker, plus the economic and natural catastrophes at home are making 2011 a year Honda wants to see in the books.

Yet…a glimmer of hope that Honda may finally be digging out of its hole with good old-fashioned product has come out of a recent Reuters report.

In discussing Honda’s recent woes, it noted that Honda has had to delay the launch of some new North America-bound new models, including a new Japanese-market Fit Shuttle (above)— a compact station wagon based on our existing Fit hatchback.

At least the Shuttle hybrid has been a hit in Japan. Apparently, Honda has 7,000 orders inhand for the new car over a five-week period ahead of the start of domestic sales this past Thursday, a “fraction” of the orders received by rival (and larger) Toyota’s Prius V hybrid wagon, due in Canada later this year.

Although Reuters doesn’t say, it’s expected that a hybrid version of the Shuttle will be sold here. Which is interesting. Despite people questioning the value proportion of expensive hybrids, even with gas prices historically high, automakers are  pumping new models into the market like crazy. Ford recently announced that its version of the Mazda5 mini-minivan, the C-Max, would be hybrid or fully electric models only when it comes to North America.

Anyway, the news that Honda is considering a non-Honda USA-designed model is encouraging. The sooner the head office in Japan stops listening to their American counterparts, the brainiacs who came up with the sedan-only Civic, Ridgeline and bloated Accord sedan and Crosstour, and the entire Acura styling disaster, the better.

Now, in Japan, the Fit Shuttle hybrid starts at 2.03 million yen ($20,000), compared with 2.35 ($30,000) million yen for the five-seater version of the Prius V. But that’s mainly because it’s a lot smaller: subcompact versus midsize.

So while I applaud Honda (if it really does bring over the Fit Shuttle), if the automaker really wants to move some metal over here, it should be considering its one-size-up Stream (left). Much like the Mazda5 is based on the compact Mazda3, the Stream is based on the Civic, and would certainly stop the “Where’s my Civic hatchback/Accord wagon?” whining from former Honda fans.

Do you like the idea of  slightly larger Fit hybrid?

If Honda does bring over the Fit Shuttle, should it be offered as a gas model as well?

Or do you think Honda is better off bringing over the larger Stream?

 [Sources: Reuters, Honda]

 

Comments

[Gardiner Westbound]

I'm more concerned about the manufacturer's reputation for quality and integrity than a car's looks. Honda Canada should take a long look at its reliability and customer care.

The car malfunctions in-warranty. The dealer says the problem is normal, he can't replicate it, and nobody else has complained notwithstanding Internet owner forums are loaded with similar complaints. Shortly after the warranty expires he "discovers" the solution and demands retail price for the repair. So I go to Honda's head office and they tell me the dealer is an independent businessman, they can't interfere.

Like I'm going to rush to a Honda store when I'm in the market again.

[Mingo Jones]

"stop the “Where’s my Civic hatchback/Accord wagon?”"... Come on John... seriously? I would love to see the Shuttle or Stream come to Canada but you can't be serious that these would satisfy the hatchback whims of our Civic Nation. A 20yr old would only be in one of these cars as a passenger.

[nick]

honda has lost its path a long time ago. will take a wholesale change in their attitude and several new generations of people who run the show in Japan before i would even consider their cars.

that's from an owner of 3 of their past cars.

[Richard]

What Acura styling disaster? I do agree that the Crosstour is spawn of the devil, though.

[CGS cat back exhaust]

As long as the manufacturer thinks of the safety of the client, I salute them. That's the most important thing to consider. The car's cars physical appearance should be at the second priority. Anyway there are a lot of ways on how to beautify and modify a car.

[DJL]

Frankly I think the Fit Shuttle and the Stream are just more of the same from Honda - two more family oriented cars in a product line that's full of them.

Right now Honda has three problems: high purchase prices, high dealer maintenance costs, and the perception that Hondas and Acuras are "old people's cars".

I can't say for certain that the Fit is the most expensive car in its class, but it's certainly more expensive than a lot of them. Almost every Honda and Acura still comes with that good ole 'honda premium'. That was fine 20 years ago when all Korean cars were crap, small US cars were generally of poor build quality, and Eu cars were just as expensive if not more so than Honda/Acura. But that's no longer the case. Korea is now building a number of quality inexpensive cars, US reliability has improved significantly, and the price of your average VW has dropped (and so has the quality, but that's another topic of discussion). People are no longer willing to pay a premium to buy a Honda or Acura but Honda hasn't adjusted to that reality. They've dropped their prices somewhat, but I suspect it's too little too late. Perception can be a killer and Honda really isn't doing anything as far as I can tell to counter the perception that their cars are expensive.

And if the perception that Honda's are expensive to purchase wasn't bad enough, the warranty required maintenance at Honda and Acura dealers is still as expensive as ever. Making the TCO of a Honda or Acura even less attractive compared with the competition.

But the biggest problem that Honda has is they no longer offer anything in their model range designed to attract young or young-at-heart car buyers. There is nothing in the Honda or Acura product line that can be described as fun, youthfully stylish and inexpensive. The Honda Fit is clearly designed for somebody older, likely with kids, the Civic Coupe SI is hardly inexpensive at $25k and the slightly less expensive CR-Z is a dud once you've drained the batteries (which doesn't take long). For the young-at-heart looking for a driver's car, there really isn't anything available. If you compare Honda's offerings to Nissan, the Accord Coupe stands up okay against something like the Nissan Ultima Coupe, but neither could be considered a driver's car. But Nissan's offerings doesn't stop with the Ultima, they also offer the Nissan 370z and the Infiniti G-Coupe. Honda has nothing comparable, and Acura doesn't even have a single coupe or GT in its product line. Also, Nissan offers the 370z and G-Coupe as convertibles, Honda and Acura have no convertibles.
And we won't even talk about somebody looking for some serious performance. It's kind of sad that the sole supplier of high performance engines to Indy racing doesn't actually make a high performance car.

So whether you're a young person without kids looking to buy something fun and inexpensive, or somebody with some coin in your pocket looking for a real driver's car, there is nothing at a Honda or Acura dealership that will get you excited. What does Honda or Acura offer to compete against the Hyundai Accent Hatchback, or the Ford Fiesta when it comes to youthful styling and affordability? What do they offer to compete against the Hyundai Genesis Coupe or the Mustang (v6 or v8)? And when you're talking upmarket performance, what does Acura have to compete against the Infiniti G-Coupe, the Audi S5, or the BMW M3, not to mention the Nissan GT-R or Audi R8? Honda is ignoring entire sectors of the automotive marketplace, and some of the sectors they've been ignoring have been quite profitable for their competition. Even during the Great Recession Ford was selling plenty of Mustangs and the demand for the Nissan GT-R was so high that Nissan had to raise the price. If Honda wants to dig itself out of its hole, it needs to restore some youthfulness to its product line - at the low, middle and high end of the pricing spectrum.

[Chevy HHR cold air intake]

No matter how much we talk here doesn't change a thing in the design choice of the manufacturer. But it helps around in future models.

[Drop Suspension]

They should show some signs. I seldom hear about them at this time.