Toyota also has a big problem: importing 1M vehicles is no longer fun with a crashing dollar. They need to raise prices on imported small vehicles and should probably start manufacturing the Prius in the US.

Yep, Honda blew it. The new Accord has worse fuel efficiency than the old one. The prior Accord is a very comfortable car for four full sized adults to travel in, making it bigger was dumb, and the new styling is just weird.

Honda fell into the Super Size Me trap which has engulfed so much of the auto industry.

That and the competition for Accord is improving. Camry, Altima, Fusion, Malibu and Aura are all worthwhile competitors now.

As far as trucks, we are on trend for trucks to return to the 20-25% of the US light vehicle market they held for over 50 years. The marketing driven craze for big SUVs and pickup trucks has run it’s course just like every fad does. As fuel prices keep climbing the sales of those big dogs is going to fall even more. In fact, sales of trucks could end up under the long term average for quite some time as the used vehicle market is flooded with trade-ins of lightly used trucks. Farmers and contractors rejoice.

Now, where is the modern equivalent of a 1972 Toyota Hilux? You know, a rugged little truck you can buy for the price of a stripped Corolla, take care of work with and get 30 mpg doing it with the 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual transmission?

Speaking of which, Mazda5 sales are up 29% for the month and year to date. Of course, the numbers are tiny in the grand scheme of things, but the 5 is like the opposite of the canary in the coal mine. It was not engineered for traditional American tastes and sales have reflected that. And yet sales are picking up. It’s a potential trend to keep an eye on.

It’s now taking a $50 and a $5 bill to fill up a mid-sized car here. You can’t leave your midsized to run nearly out unless you want to put your credit card in the pump twice – $50 is it. So SUV and pickup truck drivers can choose to pay multiple times at the pump or simply fill up every time the gas gauge reads 3/4 tank. A hassle. The credit card companies need to get a freaking clue?!

The other day, I “peeked” at oil prices online as I sat down at work and it was $104 per barrel, and by lunch, it was $107. Now, it’s $110, a mere 3 days later.

In other news, Hyundai says they will finally get 30,000 more compact 4 cylinder cars out of the parent company for the US. It still won’t be enough. And the Montgomery plant has a new four cylinder engine factory ready to start production by autumn. I am thinking that before this is over, there will be four cylinder Santa Fe’s back on sale, not just four cylinder Sonata’s on sale.

Thanks for the information on Camry incentives. I hadn’t realized that Toyota was being that aggressive.

As for the Accord’s size gain – we are looking at either the Civic, or maybe even the updated 2009 Ford Fusion. We just don’t care for the Camry.

coupdetat – no idea on what GM and Ford were thinking with 5,000+lb crossovers either. I can imagine a lot of pissed off owners any month now when the reality of better mileage never happens.

Edmunds.com’s new comparo reports the Acadia averaging 15.4mpg and the Toyota Sequoia 4.7L at 15.2mpg. I’m not sure about what other drivers are getting but it seems that, at 5000lbs, the Acadia is fighting a losing battle against physics.

One of the chief advantages of CUV’s is that they can be much lighter than body-on-frame SUV’s… so I’m not sure what GM was thinking.

At the current sales rate, the Accord will outsell the Malibu by a factor of 2:1, and will outsell the Aura by a factor of 5:1. It still maintains its lead over the Altima, although both are slipping a bit.

Perhaps Mr. Williams can address this, but I see that for March that the Camry is currently being sold with $1,000 customer incentives, while Honda isn’t offering one. I’m going to guess that Toyota is using these rebates to keep its customers away from Honda, and that the Accord’s size gain is pushing some consumers toward the Camry. With pricey gas and recession on the way, large mid-market cars are falling out of favor — for example, Avalon sales are down 1/3rd from last year.

Did you ever really look at it? Not pretty.

“I don’t understand why the Acadia is doing well. It gets just as bad mileage as its truck-based GM brethren and is smaller.”

Actually, the new pretty darn realistic EPA combined number for the Acadia is 19 mpg, vs 16 for a Yukon. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s about a 20% improvement, which on guzzlers like these works out to a difference of about $500/year. At current gas prices in most of these USA. Throw another $100 to $150/year on the barbie when gas hits $4. Which, by the way, is pretty much already happening here in the SF Bay Area.

So, a better looking better driving vehicle that saves you $50 plus a month on fuel. Not that tough of a call.

Maybe people see the CR-V next door for the same money?

With all due respect with those that are critical of the Accord’s styling, in my area, lower Accord sales are directly attributable to dealers refusing to deal on the car and asking lease rates as high as $430 a month for 36 months on EX-L models despite generally high residuals on the car.

To compare, top line Camrys are leasing in the $360 range for the same 36 months and Pontiac G6s, despite carrying stickers $1000 HIGHER than the EX-L Accord (GXP versions), they’re leasing for $330 to $345 a month.

Another comparison:

A new Acura TL leases for about $380 a month for the same 36 months.

CR-V: 31710
Escape: 25383
RAV-4: 21274

Hyundai sales tanked for the second month in a row. YTD Hyundai sales are down roughly 15%.

Yaris sales were up big in February.

The Pilot saw an increase thanks to an incentives push.

Average Honda incentives for February were higher than average Toyota incentives.