How the hell is that possible and Toyota isn’t

Toyota said they will never offer incentives either.

IMO the new Accord couldn’t look any uglier but it will still sell by the tens of thousands.

Can’t blame them. They know how easily swayed middle class Americans are into believing the BS.

I wish Honda nothing but the best — they are such a good company.

I had a couple decent honda’s. Not perfect cars, but acceptable reliability.

I liked their products better in the late 80’s early 90’s though.

What this means is that the typical American family for the next several years will focus on practical, economic, and reliable vehicles. This happens to be the segment where Honda dominates with is current and up coming cars. Honda’s cars in the 15K to 30K price range are at #1 or #2 of their class:
- Accord
- Civic
- CR-V
Up next, Honda has some new cars which will continue this trend:
- New Fit, which should aleviate the current model’s scarcity
- New Hybrid, to compete against the Prius
- New TSX

If anything, Honda may make a move to shut down Acura, which has been lagging for the last several years and has distracted it from its core market.

And you know why this is? For the past 30 years the bread and butter car buyer has been able to walk into a Honda store knowing they’ll find a Civic and an Accord. And in 30 more years the same will hold true. The sad part is Detroit has watched this sales model evolve in front of their faces all that time and they still don’t get it. They wonder why sales are down but don’t seem to understand a big part of the problem is a lot of people don’t know what they sell anymore. Do a quick count of how many nameplates GM/Ford/Chrysler have thrown the publics way the last three decades and you’ll probably get dizzy before you’re halfway done.

I have to agree. Detroit need to quit taking marketing strategy from their sales people. You don’t have to change names just make the DARN car better. Do you think people care if the Focus was the Escort, or a Cobolt was Cavalier, or Neon was ?????

global_lighting: Honda plans to bring their diesels here stateside, without that urea injection thing. they’ll put ‘em in the accord, pilot, and possibly CRV by 09-10ish. they’ll also release a tsx diesel. here goes their promo for diesel:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0XXqszFsao&NR=1

Just to point out, the “than to offer incentives” was actually not part of the quotation. And even if it was Fukui is just talking about priorities. He’s not actually saying that Honda will never offer incentives, just that he thinks providing a good product is the most important thing to do. Which is a good attitude to have if you ask me.

I like this attitude. It’s refreshing. Honda is a good company that provides good products (with the exception of that ugly monstrosity called the Ridgeline). It shows confidence – a very mature approach.

Now build me a real truck and put a baby diesel in it and Honda – you have a winner – I’ll buy tomorrow.

johnnycanuck, I agree with you only to a point here. Yes Civic and Accord are there, but customers come not only because they know the name of the car they also expect durability, quality, reliability. And out of all auto implements ( not exotics) Honda handles best. It is not a BMW (I owned that as well) but it is fairly close to BMW in feel. There are experts who will crucify me what I wrote with RWD dogma, but I drive fast on public streets and highways and don’t go to the track. Hondas do handle well and given right equipment (manual) are fun to drive. They also superior in ****ty weather (I dreaded BMW in a snow or heavy rain). I own and owned 6 Honda’s – from Civic to Legend and never regretted any of them. Can’t say the same for Pontiac, Toyota or Subaru.

Honda is a great company. I own a Honda lawnmower, snowblower, generator, lawn edger, and boat motor. Also a few a Honda vehicles….they all are great pieces of engineering, reliability, and value. What car company can say they manufacture cars, trucks, power equiptment, solar panels, HVAC units for the home, water craft/boat motors, motorcycles, ATV’s, and of course, Jet aircraft!!! You may not like it, but this is one company that has its **** together!!

Honda is a public corporation. As such their responsibility to share holder to provide return on investment. Hence, fever exciting cars. However, all manufacturers who did make exciting cars are either bankrupt or being bought by others because they could not hack it on their own. The only successful public company I can think off is BMW, who sells high end cars in our market. But in Europe you see a lot of 5 series BMW cabs with 4 cylinder diesel engines (just like Benzes and Audi) and how exciting are those? In US we get BMW’s only with 6 cylinders, but the rest of the world well aware of smaller displacements engines. For the price of one BMW you can buy Honda’s for the whole family. If price does not matter, you can buy heck of exciting cars that you don’t need to drive to work – Ferrari, Lambo, Aston. I am not in that bracket, tough being me.

jdasch1, I agree with you. One small comment: my Honda lawn mower broke after 8 years and I did maintain it and it was fairly expensive. But other then lawn mowers they do have their **** together.

autonut, you and I are not like most of the buying public. We appreciate what an ‘average’ though well balanced machine can do at 8 or 9 tenths of its potential. The majority of Civic/Accord buyers never even come close to driving their vehicle that close to the limit.

I just put my ‘95 Neon DOHC Coupe back on the road for the spring. Far from a fast car by today’s standards but I can flog it mercilessly and stay out of trouble on public streets. Your old mantra still works for me: ‘I’d rather drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow’.

Honda weed-eaters are way overpriced.

Would not mind if Honda would hurry up and get those hybrids(rumored or be Under 20,000 dollars) here ASAP.
Could use 50 MPG.
Or, just drop a clean diesel in it, the Civic, or the CR-Z styled car…like the upcoming 09 Jetta…rumored to get 50+ MPG… 140HP, 235 torque(available at 1,500 RPM!)…for around 20K.

Yes they are, RHead. They also choke on their own engine oil because of a weird design flaw. Their lawnmowers are pretty much bulletproof though. I remember always askin for the Honda mower as a wee little kid when I helped my dad with the gardening cuz it was self-propelled. haha

Yes, RHead. I’m was being serious.

Honda cars are good, but no longer great like they were in the 90s. Their designs (like the ugly Pilot) have gone downhill as well. I don’t think Honda is going anywhere soon, but don’t take the attitude that you are formidable and somehow immune from any economic downturn. The Big Three had that attitude and thought American would not switch to foreign cars, well we know where that attitude got them. Honda is fine, the one arrogant company that needs attitude adjustment is BMW, especially where they dismissed Lexus in the past.

Fukui got it right when he said “it’s more important to offer customers good products at the appropriate price range.”

autonut and johnnycanuck got it right 110%. And yes, it’s all about efficiency. The only time there is a need to spend more than necessary if when you include bragging factor in your purchase. Which is why I personally use a Suzuki SX4 for everyday chores.

Hee Hee Hee ‘Fukui’ that makes me giggle

Im getting a jersey made with Fukui on the back!

SwerveEarly

Make me one too please!! Ha!

The market is in decline. In cali,all your car has to be is “cute.”

Fletch,global: worst car I ever owned was a Honda. But the company’s bikes are world-class.

Swerve: I guy was taking a squirt,and another guy came in, whipped out a 12-incher and said,”Whew,I just made it.”

The first guy then says “Make me one, too.”

I think Honda is on to something good here. They have proven themselves time and again and again and again. Look for more of the same domination. Go Honda!

and take toyota with you!