Is The 2010 Honda Crosstour A Disaster In The Making?

Finally, now that it is September, we have received a look at Honda’s latest and greatest – but I am not sure it is the latter. Yesterday, Honda’s all-new Accord Crosstour made an appearance, and the more I look at it, I wonder if it is a flop in the making.

Taking it from the top, the car is based on the Accord. Although it is a perennial favorite amongst many, the Accord is not a particularly striking vehicle. If it were my money, I would rather invest in a Civic sedan and squeeze a little tighter. Now this Crosstour-jobby is aiming to compete in the growing and competitive crossover area.

Source: HondaNews

In a press release issued yesterday, Erik Berkman, vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. said "Our concept is to broaden the appeal of the Accord line-up by leveraging traditional Accord strengths of fun-to-drive performance and handling while also adapting to dramatic shifts in the light truck marketplace.”

The reasoning behind the Accord Crosstour makes a lot of sense, in fact, it is brilliant. With Subaru’s Forrester absolutely killing its target market, with a 76 percent increase year-over-year in August 2009, it seems sensible to try to get a piece of their market share. Yet the main problem that can be foreseen, lies within Honda’s styling.

Looking at the latest imagery shown yesterday, it appears rather unsightly. An angular front clip and enormous grille seem to take over the front of the vehicle’s overall design. As the design transcends backwards, it seems to become more curvaceous and free-flowing – thus creating a clash that has not been seen since the Greeks and the Turks.

Source: HondaNews

Even Acura’s ZDX looks better than this. Beak and all.

The reason is that Acura kept the theme similar throughout the entire design. The Crosstour looks as though two separate teams worked on the front and rear of the design.

Hopefully its interior and powerplant choices can make up for the exterior’s faults. If not, I am sure that there are some Honda loyalists that will step up to the plate and pick up one of these “hunchbacks,” as I saw someone nickname it.

I mean, they do sell the Element and Ridgeline, right?

The saving grace for this vehicle will be how much utility it has. People will buy nearly anything, as long as it has a significant amount of utility. Case in point: Scion xB. However, with a sloping roofline, it does not appear as though it will have a cavernous rear hatch. Granted, the studio photos are not exactly providing the best angles for judgment.

Stay tuned for more details on the Accord Crosstour.

~nz

rp

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Toyota Can Finally Take Over The US Car Market

Toyota’s share of the US light vehicle market is 18% and Honda’s is 10%. GM’s share of its home market is about 22%. Fifty-five years ago, the No.1 US car company had 54% of the US market. By this time next year, GM’s piece of the American car pie could drop another 50%, bringing it closer to Honda’s.

Source: dragtimes.com

It seems improbable that GM could lose that many customers so fast. But, Rick Wagoner, recently departed CEO of the company told Congress last December that consumers won’t buy vehicles from a bankrupt company. Some of the people at the hearings figured Wagoner was bluffing, trying to convince Washington that a Chapter 11 filing would bring an end to the firm’s ability to market its products because customers could turn to cars made by competitors which were in reasonably good financial shape. But, most research done recently indicates that Wagoner was probably right, at least right enough that GM’s sales could be clobbered by consumers who believe that their warranties will be worthless and that their dealers will disappear.


Read more here.

rp

Chevrolet Volt Revealed to the Public

Newsflash! Exciting event on the horizon.

I hope that is enough explanation for my absence.

Moving along, it appears as though General Motor’s Volt is well, not spectacular. The technology is far from awe-inspiring. Especially, when GM had the EV-1. At least they got the Camaro right.

I was expecting much more. Disappointed, to say the least.
The upcoming Volt’s design has been radically revamped as well. Although the company claims the changes were done for aerodynamic purposes, I do not understand why they would alienate an excited fan base. The Volt had a pretty reasonable following with individuals putting deposits on the concepts design; it was that good.

Source: carmagazine.co.uk

Clearly, GM was not thinking clearly from a marketing perspective. Before revealing this concept, the company should have put the car through its paces and determined if aerodynamic changes were necessary. Maybe “the General,” will figure this out after they see an exodus from the waiting list.

Source: carmagazine.co.uk

The car’s rather blasé styling leaves me cold. I was holding higher expectations for such a ground breaking car. Perhaps I became a victim of the over hyped media blitz this car is receiving.

Does anyone else think this car’s styling is eerily similar to the Honda Civic? To clarify, I am speaking of its front-end. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as I feel the Civic has a nice, conservative look to it.

Source: myride.com

It would have been nice to see something original and groundbreaking for this auto. Kind of like the concept.

In other news, the company announced plans to build a new $370 million plant to produce four-cylinder engines for the Volt as well as other models.

rp

August SAAR data: A Fluke.

Although we are currently in one of the greatest eras for automobile development and innovation, sales are still tanking.

August’s US SAAR total sales have painted a reasonably grim picture. You may ask, “how?” or “why?” The approximate 1.2 million vehicle sales increase can be seen as artificial due to the incentives that you can find on 2008 models and gas guzzling sport utility vehicles.

Data: Bloomberg

A CNN report implied that due to oil’s recent pull back, currently near $106 per barrel, consumers are starting to get back into sport utility vehicles. Check the 8th and 9th paragraph of that story. I am not sure if I believe that as I do not see gas prices below $3.50 in my region; what would motivate someone to run out and buy a SUV?

Are the incentives that good? What does it matter if you pay your savings back in gas bills during the vested life of the vehicle?

Back to the SAAR data. Another crucial point which must be taken into consideration is that during this time of year, auto dealers are attempting to push out as many of the prior year’s cars out of their inventory before the new models are introduced. There is a seasonal re occurrence and you can see it on the Domestic Sales and Japanese Sales charts.

Data: Bloomberg

Last August, Domestics and Japanese autos saw a nice up-tick in their respective sales. This year, it appears that General Motors is seeing a similar trajectory while Ford and Chrysler are struggling. The Japanese are fairing well with similar trends in respect to last year.

Data: Bloomberg

Essentially, after taking into consideration the seasonality of August’s numbers, as well as the significant increase in incentives I can not foresee this year’s car sales to remain on this upward trend. I am calling August a fluke. It is extremely negative to see that Ford and Chrysler are struggling with sales this past month when there should have been an improvement in sales given the current incentive programs and 2008 model year liquidations.

Out of curiosity I inserted trend lines into these charts and it appears the only company which is doing well sales-wise is Honda. The company, known for its gas-sipping cars, recently surpassed the Ford F-150 as the most sold model in a given month - Three cheers for the Honda Civic. Pretty earth-shattering news for the car world.

If you want to see how bad things have gotten, look at the year-over-year numbers. They will turn anyone who is not squeamish a nice shade of green. US SAAR has declined nearly 16% while the big three, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler lost 20%, 25%, and 34%, respectively. The Japanese are doing much better albeit not well by any means; Toyota’s sales lost 9% YOY while Honda dropped 7% in sales.

The Domestics will have to keep their chin up during this time of distress and pray their new models and changes reverse their losses. Good luck, boys.

Watch for next month's SAAR data to downtrend, I can not see it rising or going flat.

rp