Comments on: Honda Bucks the Trend; Sales Up 1.1%

By: HalfMast

HalfMast — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:43:10 +0000

kjc117: Where’d you get that about the Fit at Greensburg? I had been working on a research project on that plant and could get Honda to say NOTHING about NA production of Fit.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d lay money that the Fit starts production in NA by the end of ‘09 with about 60% chance of it going to Greensburg. The other likely location would be Alliston, Ontario , which has a new engine facility there to support it.

What’s with the article’s author’s comment on the Fit being on it’s last legs? Are we talking a newly designed Fit, or altogether new model to replace it?

By: davey49

davey49 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:17:49 +0000

The Accord doesn’t get any better mileage than all it’s competitors.
A V-8 Acura is still needed. Panicky buyers don’t make your lousy car suddenly better.
Honda has plenty of incentives, they just don’t advertise them. They have just as many as GM.
Walk into a dealer and say you want to buy an Element or Ridgeline and it will magically ***plink*** be under invoice

By: kjc117

kjc117 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:31:40 +0000

The Fit is slated for production at Greensburg site in the future.
Although, Honda will loose money on them unless they can sell 200K + Fits in N.A.

TSX increase is customer retention, it does not get good MPG for a 4 cylinder.

By: ttacgreg

ttacgreg — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:47:20 +0000

The chant for a v-8?
Yup, and how many times have I heard “the CRV still has only four cylinders”? There’s been a v-6 chant too. One article writer wanted a V-6 in the TSX.

By: John Horner

John Horner — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:47:06 +0000

Suddenly Honda’s “failures” to play in the monster truck and big-bucks luxury categories are playing to the company’s advantage.

Acura remains in deep-do-do though. Acura would do well to turn the Fit platform into an ultra premium small car.

By: Stein X Leikanger

Stein X Leikanger — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:24:45 +0000

Charlie Baker, Chief Engineer, U.S., for Honda: Our philosophy is to build the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly vehicle in each category, and if we can’t, we will eventually pull out of categories where we do not meet our goal.

I don’t understand why this is so hard to understand? Lots of people claiming Honda will be sorry when the economy turns and people go for big cars again …
Sorry for what? Making money?

He-he.

Honda is delivering proof of the Hare and the Tortoise fable.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:39:16 +0000

I’ve only dealt with one Honda Dealer, and the salesman was very nice, showing us a Fit right after they came out even though we made it clear we weren’t going to buy a car that day. Toyota dealers have been universally average at best to downright jerks at worst. My wife and I were looking at a Scion xB once, and the salesman wouldn’t even unlock the car.

By: RobertSD

RobertSD — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:35:45 +0000

Honda dealers are good until something goes wrong with your car, and then it’s all about how “Honda’s never go wrong on their own.” Right. It’s why I will never buy a Honda again.

Just a clarification on Honda’s vs GM’s incentives. Honda’s incentive spend was just under $1,400 per vehicle in June. GM’s was about $3,500 per vehicle. So, the character of the post about GM versus Honda sales is acurate, but the reative truth is somewhat lacking.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:31:17 +0000

Fit sales up 100%, wow! Will honda be abel to keep up with demand for the Fit since it is just another ICE car, or have Toyota size Prius problems?

By: Chris Haak

Chris Haak — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:00:19 +0000

@mocktard:

I’ve heard stories of arrogant Honda dealers before too – the two I have dealt with (one where I bought my ‘04 Accord, and a more local one where I have it serviced) have always been great to me.

By: mocktard

mocktard — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:53:07 +0000

I would like to state that my Honda salesman was very polite and personable. The better-than-normal salesman and excellent past parts/service experience are why we picked up an Accord. I find Toyota dealers to be the arrogant ones, and the local Toyota dealer is also the Chevy dealer (groan).

The 268hp V6 is sweet and getting the little green “ECO” light to turn on is a fun game… who needs a V8?

By: mel23

mel23 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:50:21 +0000

The local Honda dealer has been out of Fits and VERY low on Civics for most of the month. The only Civic he has is stick with no air (could be dealer installed of course). The next 3 Fits he gets are already sold. So I’d say the numbers are somewhat skewed. Wonder how many people are buying Cobalts/Focus/Aveo stuff who’d rather have Fit/Civic etc.

By: Chris Haak

Chris Haak — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:47:17 +0000

Honda “wins,” but the headline and text of this article – as was the Toyota one – are based on the adjusted DSR rate, which TTAC has a policy of not using, and should be adjusted per RobertSD’s comment two hours ago. Up 1.1% ain’t bad in this market, but it’s also a far cry from up 13.8%. The linked Honda press release makes it pretty clear that it’s the DSR. Were you guys moving a little too fast to get the news up this month?

(I realize that the AutoNews alert originally blasted the 13.8% figure as well until the details came out, but they have adjusted their article).

By: netrun

netrun — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:42:25 +0000

I bet if you went to three GM dealers with a spec sheet for a car you were interested in you’d end up with three different numbers. Just like 5 years ago. And 5 years before that. And 5 years before that. Could there be a problem here? Nahhh.

If you go to three different Honda dealers (if you’re town even has 3) you’ll get three very similar numbers for the same spec car. You’ll also get an arrogant salesman, but I guess they can afford it when the buying public is stacked 10 deep every day they open their doors.

By: jaje

jaje — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:30:29 +0000

Seoultrain – you are just looking at the national offers. Go to a dealer and there are regional and dealer offers that are also included. In fact it’s very confusing at GM figuring out who much rebates there truly are.

By: Jeff Puthuff

Jeff Puthuff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:21:26 +0000

@brettc

If H put a four in the Pilot, it would probably get worse mileage, not to mention lose its tow rating. The V6 now in the Pilot is a 6-4-3 depending on load, speed, etc. Pilot’s need lots of torque when hauling the family and the camper from a stop.

By: seoultrain

seoultrain — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:18:02 +0000

jaje, where are you seeing that GM’s deal is 0% over 72 months on top of rebates? GM.com for the few vehicles I saw was 0% financing OR $2k-$5k cash allowances.

By: jaje

jaje — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:57:09 +0000

GM has to sell most of their cars/trucks below invoice (Honda does not and actually sells much closer to MSRP) using $1-5k in rebates (and play the add up the various rebate game). GM has 72 month 0 % financing on top of rebates. Honda had 1.9% financing for 60 months but with no other offers. Those incentives are pretty typical of Honda in the first place – Honda also has much stricter acceptance of buyers and will not give the car away. Remember the fire sales and 0% financing were all started by the D2.8 to dump cars where there was no real demand for the volume.

By: npbheights

npbheights — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:48:26 +0000

Not to mention their ARROGANT dealers. Lets see what happens in July, when customers will have to pay a full 2.9% for 60

By: Antohn Crispin

Antohn Crispin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:44:24 +0000

To Dynamic88:

Alternatively, you can also buy an F1 car from them to get a V8 as well…

To npbheights:

Nobody’s specifically concerned about A: Honda running out of cash to finance their incentives, and B: Honda failing to achieve profits despite offering their incentives. Though it may out that Honda’s losing billions of dollars this year under everyone’s noses. Though I doubt it…

By: npbheights

npbheights — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:42:00 +0000

I was considering a Honda in June. They were doing 1.9% for 60 months on Civic and 0.9% for 60 months on Accord ALL month. According to Honda’s website they just upped it to 2.9% for 60 on both Civic and Accord. Why is GM being slammed for doing 0% for 72 on their Sleds while the Honda was doing some pretty aggressive financing on their smallest cars, and nobody says a word about it? On 6/26 I bought a Corolla XLE at 3.9% for 60, I just could not get over the ugly snout, ugly interior, e-break handle that hit my right knee, and 1 mpg average less of the Civic, even at 2% apr less.

By: Dynamic88

Dynamic88 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:39:19 +0000

Honda has a V8. Of course, you’ll need to buy an Indy car to get it.

By: Rix

Rix — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:27:33 +0000

Interesting that the TSX is doing so well. There’s a real market for a four cylinder with good mileage and a premium interior. who else has something like that? Most others use a turbo or a six…And the TSX doesn’t even get very good mileage…

By: Ronin317

Ronin317 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:14:05 +0000

TTAC should put together a chart for the major brands, and put up the overall rates and the adjusted rates. Robert?

By: Antohn Crispin

Antohn Crispin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:06:01 +0000

As stated before, without the DSR, Honda’s bump in sales is only 1%. And Acura’s sink in sales is -26% at -15% year to date. Though let’s not kid ourselves: Honda has been slowing gaining market share even in the “good” economy of ye olde 2005 so it doesn’t surprise any long time Hondaniks that the big H is finally getting some time in the sun.