QOTD: Honda Insight Failed Because Of Marketing
Did the second-generation Honda Insight fail in the marketplace because of a lack of marketing resources? If you said “yes”, then you may want to look at a gig at American Honda.
Speaking to Ward’s Auto Honda’s Jeff Conrad, the Insight, which was generally regarded as a far cry from the class-leading Toyota Prius, failed not because of its rather coarse hybrid system or its Prius-aping styling, but from the lack of marketing resources. Said Conrad
“We had an initial launch, we spent a few dollars, but then we wanted to grow volume in other places, and that’s where the marketing dollars went.”
Far from the 90,000 units Honda aimed for annually, the Insight sold just under 21,000 units in 2010, its best year ever. Meanwhile, Prius is to hybrid as Hoover is to vacuum cleaner.
More by Derek Kreindler
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I have always loved the ingenuity of the Honda and its engine quality. However I feel that the design has a lot to be desired on this model.
With the notable exception of the S2000, Honda seems to get itself in trouble when it stops trying to be Honda. The first Insight, though I couldn't stand it at the time, was PERFECT. 2 seats: Check. Manual gearbox: Check. Inexpensive: Varies, depending on your understanding of the term. Far less expensive to own than to buy. It was a 21st Century version of the old CRX, updated for the modernity of its time. A geeky little city commuter, basically a Nissan Cube with a lot less room but superior fuel economy. A perfect starter car for someone just getting out of school who has neither a family to transport nor a lot of money budgeted for rapidly rising gas prices. It had that niche all to itself and for some reason decided it needed to go up in weight class (which almost never works, unless you're Manny Pacquiao) and take on Toyota in the family hauler segment. And Toyota handed them their lunch. Good lord, Honda couldn't even be bothered to style their car differently (than the Prius). The only people who bought the Insight five-doors were probably the people who thought they were in Toyota dealerships and just didn't think there was any difference between the two once they realized otherwise.
This failure just reminds me how overrated and overpriced Honda really is.
More clickbait crap about a crap car. Is this what so called truth about cars has come to?