Yawn: Honda Announces 2015 NSX. Once More And Again
Illustrating the state of the Japanese auto industry, and especially that of Honda, Honda unveiled its prototype of the NSX yesterday in Tokyo. The Acura sports car had been rumored for two years, and was shown at the Detroit Motor Show. Honda repeated in Tokyo what it had said in Detroit:
The car should become available in 2015. It will be a hybrid, will be built at Honda’s plant in Ohio and will be exported to Japan.
The long wait until delivery does not dissuade Honda from investing heavily into Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, and a big media buy for the Super Bowl. We dare not to ask who or what did cost more. The ad tries very hard to turn the wait until 2015 into something positive.
In Tokyo, President Takanobu Ito promised the assembled yawning media that the car “will combine both driving pleasure and environmental performance.”
After the Japanese tsunami and Thai flood, Honda emerged as the hardest hit of the Japanese majors. In 2011, Honda lost 20 percent of its global production, while Toyota lost 8.2 percent. Nissan added 14.3 percent.
The rolling out of new models people can buy becomes more urgent every day. If a car that had been seen before, and that will be delivered in three years, is the topic of a news conference and a multi million dollar media buy, then Honda likely will limp along for a while.
“Alright. Can we talk about something else?”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I thought this AD was a really good thing. I watched the game with a lot of people who DON'T read automobile blogs i.e. NORMAL people and they were all wowed by how the car looked. Now I realize that Acura has a looooong list of things wrong with it as a brand, but building buzz can never be a bad thing among the normal people out there!
Fool me once, shame on you. (HSV concept) Fool me twice, shame on me. ('08 NSX concept) Fool me thrice... hahahahahaha 2015!