Brad

Just about all of their comments on the Honda Euro Accord would apply at least equally as well to the Acura TSX:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,0a30,00.html

dabuda

awesome stuff!

independent, meaning it has not direct/indirect ties to manufacturers? as opposed to JD Power eh?

Brad

Your guess is as good as mine.

By "independent" I would normally think of Consumer Reports, which doesn't accept any advertising from commercial entities.

Contrast that with regular car magazines--Motor Trend, etc.--that also have "Car of the Year" awards. These commercial rags have a vested interest in pacifying their sources of revenue streams. I wonder if a car manufacturer that never advertised in their rag would ever have its products proclaimed to be "Car of the Year"? That's why some articles in some of some commercial rags are little more than regurgitations of marketing brochures. Newspapers are particularly notorious for regurgitating brochures.

kiteboy

Do they sell the USDM Accord alongside the Euro Accord in NZ, like they do in Australia?

Dan Martin

Yep! http://www.honda.com.au/flash.htm

Brad

I think that the USDM-style Accord that they offer Down Under comes from Honda's Thailand factory. It's funny to read reviews from NZ and Oz that reference or compare the two models, the Accord Euro and the larger (so-called) American-style Accord. The larger Accord has been described as a bloated brother of the Accord Euro. Interestingly, one Down Under review placed the larger Accord's marketing position as exceeding that of the Toyota Avalon, which here in the States the Avalon is positioned a bit "above" a Camry (Avalon = stretched Camry).

It's interesting how the same car has different marketing perceptions in different markets.