You know the situation is bad when a person supposedly representing a vehicle already thinks their company announced said vehicle’s death months ago.
During a phone call with TTAC, a Honda rep let slip that the automaker “already announced” the death of the long-in-the-tooth CR-Z.
The problem: Honda’s made no such announcement for North America. Uh-oh.
It should come as no surprise Honda’s much-hyped spiritual successor to the CRX will be taken out behind the service bay barn and shot. With only two doors, two seats, limited cargo-carrying ability, a hefty curb weight and low horsepower … well, would you buy one? Of course you wouldn’t. And you didn’t.
Honda just dropped a ‘Final Label’ edition of the CR-Z in Japan, which basically amounts to a billboard announcing the model’s impending demise. The company also dropped a number of hybrids from its North American lineup last year — but kept the CR-Z. Even a factory supercharging kit couldn’t boost CR-Z sales.
What’s worse: the world forgetting about you, or one of your parents believing you moved out months ago?
Honda’s cars are simply too ugly to be “regular cars”.
If cars this ugly were Plug-in Hybrids, Hydrogen or EV, it would be acceptable:
“car of the future”
But to simply be a regular car with a 4-cylinder and a CVT?
“This isn’t change I can Believe in”
The only cars Honda has that I like are the Accord Coupe and the Crosstour.
Bad!
It was/is a hybrid, BTSR. Also, I guess you only like one Honda, considering the Crosstour has been dead for well over a year.
Better to be first! than know what you’re talking about, I guess. CR-Z is a hybrid and Honda leads the “regular car” sales figures.
I meant a PHEV. I will change it.
You still call it a “regular car with a CVT”. An example would be the Altima, not the CRZ. Face it, you stuck your foot in your mouth big time here. Proof you don’t have much meaningful content, just a bunch of RANDOM comments ABOUT every car needs to BE bigger because HELLCAT 50 in a school ZONE proudly reckless.
As sporty said: Maybe concentrate on posting something worthwhile instead of concentrating on being the first to post.
Also note the CR-Z comes with a manual transmission standard. But only if truth matters to you.
Manuals are lame.
Wow. Sad. This is the kid that coulda/shoulda been a contender. Not that two-seaters are necessarily a huge market these days, but given all of the nostalgia and fondness for the CRX, this could have been so much more than it was/is.
If Honda wants to take another stab at reviving a beloved nameplate–and will do it right this time–I suggest the Prelude.
Honda likes to drop good things people enjoy. Then replace them with nothing or with inferior product.
Original Legend
Integra
Element
S2000
CRX
Seriously, they could put the S2000 back into production AS-IS and people would snap them up. Maybe ditch that ridiculous digital red tach, but that’s just me.
Bring back the Element as well, with current Civic running gear so it gets better than 16mpg.
Preach! I had an Element for awhile after college it was no worse in the city than any other car – and it worked well for me because I moved every year. But the moment I moved out of the city, it was kinda crappy. It needs gas every 250 miles or so. I never got over 23 mpg with mine. The AWD system didn’t work well and it had more issues than all my other japanese cars combined (though it led a very rough life before I got it).
Any one of the trade-offs is fine, but not all of them together.
Dom Portwood: Who’s he?
Bob Porter: You know, squirrely looking guy, mumbles a lot.
Dom Portwood: Oh, yeah.
Bob Slydell: Yeah, we can’t actually find a record of him being a current employee here.
Bob Porter: I looked into it more deeply and I found that apparently what happened is that he was laid off five years ago and no one ever told him, but through some kind of glitch in the payroll department, he still gets a paycheck.
Bob Slydell: So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.
Bill Lumbergh: Great.
Dom Portwood: So um, Milton has been let go?
Bob Slydell: Well just a second there, professor. We uh, we fixed the *glitch*. So he won’t be receiving a paycheck anymore, so it will just work itself out naturally.
Bob Porter: We always like to avoid confrontation, whenever possible. Problem solved from your end.
Best documentary ever. Makes a bitchin’ double feature with Idiocracy.
Comment of the day. +1 for Idiocracy, kvndoom.
Yeah, I’m gonna need you to come in on Saturday and put out that press release about the demise of the CR-Z. We find if something like that is announced over the weekend, no one notices on Monday.
My next door neighbors have a CRZ: a perfect car for an older married couple with no kids. Their other car is a CRV – really.
The CR-Z only needed a proper Civic Si motor and a close-ratio 6-speed manual. Because people were expecting “son of CR-X,” not another two-seater commuter car like the Insight.