What Honda Needs to Do To Keep A Strong Position in the US Market

Hardly a 'leader in an issue' - Amber turn signals are required on all
vehicles in europe, and despite what many think, the european car
market is bigger than the American one - UK, france, germany spain =
USa, ireland = canada, then you have portugal, italy, etc.

When cops in the Uk are in a strict mood (say around a 'cruise'
they'll get you for fog-lghts, and if you've got red indicators 9or
white, when applied) you've evither got the choise of fixing it
without moving the vehicle, or towing it, since technically its
unroadworthy (UK drivers tend not to look for red turn signals0 and
often they'll tear up your MOt certificate, and force you to get
another.

Its to do with joe schmoe, and what he thinks is nice.
just look at TV, and you'll see just how much taste the average
american is deemed to ahve.

 

Most people who buy station wagons do not want "performance",they want to
haul their kids around.
Honda used to make a station wagon Accord,and sales were not good enough to
keep making them.Same for Toyota.

 

RSX is ugly,it looks like an over-inflated Integra,jacked up six inches.
Its front end is garish.

Most of "Detroit"s products are overweight and underpowered,and low-tech to
boot.And I would not trust their quality or reliability.

Honda needs to bring back the Prelude.

 

hey, suspension is not the /only/ decision maker for the guy in the
street. that's why the above comment is relative to "the tuner market",
where it /is/ a factor.

 

Not sure if its as big as the old Volvo, but anyway I am looking for
Japanese reliability.

 

We agree on that -- but it would probably not look like a Prelude if they
did.

 

And wait until the Chinese catch up.......

 

Remember when Hyundai first entered the US market with the Excel? IIRC,
its biggest selling point, which got a lot of publicity, was a much
lower price for a brand-new car compared to what any other manufacturer
was offering, and they sold quite a few cars to people who'd otherwise
been considering used cars. I was in the market for a low-priced car at
the time, and I have to admit that Hyundai briefly got my attention, but
I ultimately opted for a used 1st-gen Prelude instead.

Dave

 

A guy where I work bought one back then. He was well paid but cheap.
He had a loan on it and he said that he started getting calls from the
bank every month asking if he was going to make his loan payment.
Apparently, Hyundai buyers of that era turned out to be high credit
risks.

He drove the car for a long, long time (like I said, he was cheap) and
claimed it was very reliable. It did look a little like Swiss cheese
by the time he dumped it.

 

We have a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe for a security vehicle in our large
restricted development that I drive every night. The fit and finish is
definitely not up to Toyota or Honda quality. It is probably half way
between them and the American cars. The body creaks bad on dirt roads, the
steering system has something definitely wrong with it and lights are out
everywhere including the shift panel. Engine rapping is noticeable when it
is cold. 26,000 miles. Our development bought it because of the 100,000 mile
warranty.

 

I agree with you, Hyundai is the competitor to watch right now.

It seems to me that the secondary Japanese brands, which in the US
market means everyone except Toyota and Honda, are in for an especially
hard bruising as Toyota, Honda and Hyundai battle it out.

Fifty years ago the same thing happened when GM and Ford really went to
battle. All of the other US makers took it in the shorts and only
Chrysler sort of surived that battle.

John

 

Yes, and many people - and the marketplace in general - still equate
Hyundai with the Excel. A poor first product offering is hard to
overcome. But, their new products are light years aways from that
product, just as today's Civic is light years in difference from the
original Civic CVCC.

 

Yes, and many people - and the marketplace in general - still equate
Hyundai with the Excel. A poor first product offering is hard to
overcome. But, their new products are light years aways from that
product, just as today's Civic is light years in difference from the
original Civic CVCC.

 

Actually, Hyundai's first North American small car was the Pony. The
Excel was the Pony's successor.

 

Oh, they're still made, just not sold in the Us.
Big Difference

 

I have had volvos for years, mainly european 340s and 360s.

The V70s are not quite as big as the old 240 estate certainly not the
current model, the older one (96-01 iirc) is bigger, but its basically
the 760 refined a bit more.

They're reliable if kept maintained (except for some of the XCs)
British and european polie ofrces use the V70 as their prefered
pursuit car, and those do heavy duty on constant swapped shifts - 130k
miles a year is average for them, often in high pursuit (delimited, a
t5 will do somewhere in the region of 160mph) only place something
else is prefered is for inner-city pursuits, where the imprezta (often
worked on by prodrive) rules, which are tweaked to make traffic humps
at 70 doable