Klamalama

Today's Philly Inquirer has a review of the new Accord. In it, the author writes the following paragraphs:

The goal in redoing Accord this time - it is the seventh generation of a car introduced to the United States in 1976 as a three-door hatchback - was to keep the Accord loyalist while bringing back the passionate customer who falls for a car because of its looks and performance.

"We had the passionate customer 20 years ago," said Charlie Baker, chief engineer for the '03 Accord. "Now we see them over at Volkswagen, in the Passat." Accord has instead become the preferred car of those who shop for safety, reliability, practicality and even environmental friendliness.

Baker and team hope that the '03 model will attract customers from both sides of the spectrum.

Here's the link to the whole article:

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/cla...ve/4062332.htm

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So why do I think this is good news for the CL? Actually it's an inference. Now I don't know Charlie Baker or where in the Honda food chain he is, but he made a statement public enough to make the newspaper. It might be just PR but then again 240hp and a 6-speed Accord is for real so I will take it at face value. So if Honda truly is trying to gain the performance market then one may look at the 6-speed CL not as the end of the line but more of the first volley into the performance arena. The Accord being the second. What's next? I think the CL could get even more performance in the near future.

Zapata

lets hope!!!!

Loseit

iTrader: (1)

yeah lets hope!

BSK181

maybe if we all pray together, we could make it happen

Scrib

All of us minus Tom2. Rumor has it he's not all into that prayer thing... :P


Seriously, though... I still think the CL will survive. Acura would be foolish to dump it, IMHO.

DISRUPTV

I agree w/u brotha...Acura needs to market the coupe a bit differently and style it better...i..e. 28-45 demographics...people who want a refined but sporty ride and may look 2 the aftermarket 4 some assistance

gjr2001

"Honda truly is trying to gain the performance market then one may look at the 6-speed CL not as the end of the line but more of the first volley into the performance arena. The Accord being the second. What's next? I think the CL could get even more performance in the near future. "

That would be nice. But they seriously must do some heavy advertising and have more favorable critics to pull anything major off. I know why I don't see hardly any Cl's where I live , because Acura has not done enough to get the word out. I know just about every car that has been produced in the last 10 years, but it's strange how I never knew what a Cl was only up to a year ago. And believe me that a car manufactuer has pulled off a monumental accomplishment when I cannot identify what kind of car is next to me. Come on Acura let the world know about the Cl, at least in Ohio, it's not like they assemble the cars here or anything! :

Edward'TLS

Let's pray harder. Maybe Acura will throw in a 4.0L V8 and AWD too.

stickman

I don't know about the survival of the CLS. Since I bought the CLS 6 weeks ago I naturally notice every other CL/CLS I see. And I see very few of them, especially when compared to all the TL/TLS that are around. I have yet to see a single 2003 model CL/CLS since I bought mine!

Let's face it, how many people can afford to pay over CDN$48,000 (I included tax) for a 2 door luxury car? Not to mention a 2 door luxury car with 6MT? Most people that can afford such luxury are older, have families and could not be bothered by the inconvenience of 2 doors or manual transmission.

So I would not be surprised if the CL/CLS will be dropped by Acura. But as somebody already mentioned, having a "limited edition" CLS 6MT is not a bad thing either.

Edward'TLS

Honda is running a business. It has to show results to its shareholders. Consequently, it seems natural that Honda will axe whatever car lines that are not selling well, or rename those car lines. The only exception is the NSX. Even though Honda is losing money on every single NSX it is selling, Honda is still keeping it alive because it enhances the brand image of Acura automobiles.

KavexTrax

Losing money on every NSX, where did you hear this?

I find that a bit hard to believe, considering:
<pre>
Invoice MSRP TotalMarketValue
Base Price $79,213 $89,000 $89,000
Destination Charge $765 $765 $765
Total
(w/o Options) $79,978 $89,765 $89,765
</pre>
(from Edmunds.com)

From what I can understand, in normal circumstances, all luxury cars in or near the supercar range, are limited in production but very high in profit margin. And so dealers can afford to sell only a few a year which results in a low inventory turnover and high margin.

Whereas the mid/entry luxury class like the CLs and TLs have a much smaller margin compared to the flagship nsx, and so dealerships must sell more to make more. Thus, inventory turnover is much higher and volume is the key.

.02

nate'sCLS

Strike that 28-45 my old brotha, make that 21-28 :P

Awais

b/w RWD > AWD :o

charliemike

Hehe, that's what the RSX is for =)

2001CL

Before the 03 came out i've seen very few cl's i think their best step so far was to introduce the 6 spead manual, now i see alot more of them.

Also since the cl has a 10k price tag over the accord and they just hooked up the accord i'll be looking forward to see what they will do to the cl engine in the future, its due for a tune up to say the least.

Personally I dont think that they will will drop the cl due to the fact its not to much different from the tl so they dont have to change to much in production, when purchasing the same equipment in more quantities it tends to be cheaper, maybe the tl and cl will both get a engine upgrade, We can only hope.