What's Wrong With This Picture: Can Japan Regain The Upper Hand? Edition
Between Consumer Reports’ decision to drop the Honda Civic from its “recommended” list, the poor financial numbers, increased competition from Detroit, Wolfsburg and Korea and the chaos of the tsunami (not to mention the Toyota recall scandal), there are plenty of signs that the land of the rising sun is losing its grip on the US car market. But is the slide inexorable, or can Japan rally to regain its dominance? Here, via Automotive News [sub], is a graphic that projects the product cadence of Japan’s “big three” over model-years 2012-2015… does it give you hope for Japan, or do you see signs of continued struggles?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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About time the Lexus IS is getting redesigned. Hopefully it has better visibility, a lower beltline (more like the BMW 3-series or Infiniti G than the current car), and is more fun to drive; along the lines of the upcoming GS redesign.
Isn't part of the problem that many recent "new and improved" redesigns have been "new and less desirable"? Hyundai and Ford have generally been doing a good job of introducing redesigns which are actually improved. Honda has doing terribly on that score in recent years, with the Fit perhaps the only redesign which is actually better than the prior generation. Toyota has been on a de-contenting binge with the Camry for the past three design generations, and each one is objectively less desirable than the one which went before it. Nissan doesn't seem to be as bad off in this regard. Acura and Mazda have incorporated new faces which are simply hideous, and the current TSX is a much less desirable driver's car than was its cult classic predecessor.
The ever-rising yen has got to have a lot to do with their de-contenting decisions. Even if they make more profit from each overseas built car, it gets eaten-up when the currency gets converted back. What I don't understand is why a Japanese company doesn't take a chance and offer vehicles with a diesel option. VW sold them even with their brand's higher markup and lower reliability. Someone mentioned recently that the A3 diesel is now a MSRP profit spinner. Here in Canada, autos.ca did a new M-Class review and noted 80% of M-Class sales are diesel. There's got to be an opportunity for something reliable and yet less expensive than a hybrid.
Is it me, or is the only Japanese manufacturer that still "has it's sh*t together" is Nissan? I'm willing to bet good money that the new Versa will be a big hit when it's released, and with a choccablock new/revised product lineup over the next few years they look to be the busiest of the bunch.