Honda: Sales, Marketing and Financial News
11-11-2015, 07:02 AM
#561
Safety Car
AutoNews
Takahiro Hachigo took over as Honda Motor Co. CEO last June as the company was recovering from several body blows.
The carmaker's reputation had slumped to ho-hum, with critics less than enthused by some recent products. It was broadsided by the global recall of millions of vehicles to replace faulty Takata airbags. And a series of recalls of the redesigned Honda Fit prompted a global r&d overhaul.
But Honda is on the rebound, and the veteran engineer is pushing a back-to-basics strategy to stoke the momentum.
Hachigo, 56, spoke through an interpreter Oct. 26 with News Editor James B. Treece, Asia Editor Hans Greimel and Staff Reporter David Undercoffler about his thoughts on alliances, Acura and autonomous driving.
Q: Honda is staging a comeback with fun-to-drive cars, but it has been said that it lost its way in recent years. What happened?
A: As a result of the recession, sales went down. Because we had to stop the bleeding, we came up with various solutions. My predecessor, [CEO Takanobu] Ito, took various measures to make this happen, including the termination of some models that were under development. In parallel, we focused on six regions worldwide, including emerging markets, and tried to ensure that these businesses became more autonomous.
What role does North America play in this strategy?
North America should lead the way in building such regional autonomy. As a result, our American r&d branch started to promote and develop various models.
Even prior to that, within Honda, we had the feeling some products lacked Honda's unique originality. Therefore, we thought models developed in North America should emphasize fun features. Meanwhile, other regions -- India, China, Thailand -- were becoming capable of developing their own cars.
We started new initiatives. But it takes around 3 years to develop new cars. So, finally, we are now starting to see the fruits of the efforts.
Honda once envisioned global sales of 6 million by 2017. But you swore off volume goals. How important is volume?
The 6 million units was not a sales target. Instead, the initial thinking was we wanted to become a company that had that kind of scale.
The world economic situation changed unexpectedly. As a result, we could not achieve that initial sales volume. When I became president, I said rather than focus on volume, we should put top priority on delivering good products. If we do that, the volume will follow.
Is 6 million enough scale for Honda to remain independent?
In the past, there was talk that unless you achieve 4 million units globally you were not going to be able to survive. And now that the market is growing, you'd tend to think that number would be higher now. But still there are manufacturers surviving with volume around 4 million.
I don't think volume is the only benchmark by which you can judge whether a company can survive. What's more important is coming up with products that are well-accepted by the customer.
It seems Honda is growing more receptive to automotive tie-ups.
In regard to possible partnerships with other companies, it's not the case we haven't had such collaborations. For example, we have joint ventures in China. We have worked with General Motors on a number of things. And in racing we are working with McLaren.
If we see that there is an advantage in working with another company, then we would consider building such a relationship.
But no capital tie-ups?
We are not thinking of capital tie-ups.
Why are you partnering with GM on hydrogen fuel cells?
Even prior to the fuel cells, we had been talking with GM about a number of things, including engines. So we had this relationship in the past. Especially in terms of technical collaboration, we had this relationship of trust.
Wouldn't you have more trust in a Japanese partner?
It's just that we've had this very good relationship from the past with GM that we are working with them. It's not that we dislike Japanese manufacturers. If there is a good offer, we are willing to consider that as well.
What is your outlook for the U.S. market in 2016, and when do you expect demand to turn down?
This year we came out with a very challenging product in the new Civic, and we are planning other new, exciting models next year. So we are hoping sales will be even better next year.
Regarding the U.S. market outlook, one issue would be how the China economy evolves. Unless something extreme happens in China, like an extreme slowdown, I think the U.S. economy will be stable for the next few years.
What are your goals for the Acura brand?
Acura is a very important brand for the U.S. and for Honda.
Because we have tried to improve our sedans, such as the TLX and ILX, and the SUV lineup with the MDX and RDX, we are seeing a year-on-year sales increase of about 10 percent. And next year, the NSX will appear as our flagship. We think we now have a very solid foundation.
We will still continue to work on our sedan and SUV lineup so we can come up with very competitive products that make Acura stand out. We would especially like to introduce Acuras developed in North America to global markets, including China.
Does Acura need to be a global brand to succeed in the U.S.?
Our plan is to succeed in the U.S. and then try to supply the brand globally. It will be a global brand, but the success will first come from the United States.
What are your thoughts on autonomous driving?
There are still a number of hurdles that need to be overcome.
But while we pursue the fun aspects of driving, we also have to develop autonomous driving technologies. And one area where we have to focus is safety. We think it is very important to come up with technologies that compensate for human error.
But what's beyond that?
If we come up with a fully automated car, you won't have to drive the car to begin with. And it would also mean no matter what car you purchase, they would all drive the same.
We still need to discuss what direction to pursue.
You sound more conservative than others about the future of autonomous driving. Why is that?
I'm not denying the trend toward autonomous driving. We have to consider how we can come up with something original to Honda.
That is the issue we still have not solved.
I was in Los Angeles for two years with r&d, and I often went to classic car markets. You feel attachment to those classic cars. People have an emotional attachment. It's those kind of cars that we are talking about.
So even if we realize autonomous cars, we want to produce cars that elicit some kind of emotional attachment from people.
Can you give us an update on the Takata airbag recalls?
1st of all, we'd like to apologize to our customers for causing such an inconvenience. What we can do at this point is to first of all increase the recall rate and to try to clarify the cause of the problem as quickly as possible. We have requested a 3rd-party investigation.
A: As a result of the recession, sales went down. Because we had to stop the bleeding, we came up with various solutions. My predecessor, [CEO Takanobu] Ito, took various measures to make this happen, including the termination of some models that were under development. In parallel, we focused on six regions worldwide, including emerging markets, and tried to ensure that these businesses became more autonomous.
What role does North America play in this strategy?
North America should lead the way in building such regional autonomy. As a result, our American r&d branch started to promote and develop various models.
Even prior to that, within Honda, we had the feeling some products lacked Honda's unique originality. Therefore, we thought models developed in North America should emphasize fun features. Meanwhile, other regions -- India, China, Thailand -- were becoming capable of developing their own cars.
We started new initiatives. But it takes around 3 years to develop new cars. So, finally, we are now starting to see the fruits of the efforts.
Honda once envisioned global sales of 6 million by 2017. But you swore off volume goals. How important is volume?
The 6 million units was not a sales target. Instead, the initial thinking was we wanted to become a company that had that kind of scale.
The world economic situation changed unexpectedly. As a result, we could not achieve that initial sales volume. When I became president, I said rather than focus on volume, we should put top priority on delivering good products. If we do that, the volume will follow.
Is 6 million enough scale for Honda to remain independent?
In the past, there was talk that unless you achieve 4 million units globally you were not going to be able to survive. And now that the market is growing, you'd tend to think that number would be higher now. But still there are manufacturers surviving with volume around 4 million.
I don't think volume is the only benchmark by which you can judge whether a company can survive. What's more important is coming up with products that are well-accepted by the customer.
It seems Honda is growing more receptive to automotive tie-ups.
In regard to possible partnerships with other companies, it's not the case we haven't had such collaborations. For example, we have joint ventures in China. We have worked with General Motors on a number of things. And in racing we are working with McLaren.
If we see that there is an advantage in working with another company, then we would consider building such a relationship.
But no capital tie-ups?
We are not thinking of capital tie-ups.
Why are you partnering with GM on hydrogen fuel cells?
Even prior to the fuel cells, we had been talking with GM about a number of things, including engines. So we had this relationship in the past. Especially in terms of technical collaboration, we had this relationship of trust.
Wouldn't you have more trust in a Japanese partner?
It's just that we've had this very good relationship from the past with GM that we are working with them. It's not that we dislike Japanese manufacturers. If there is a good offer, we are willing to consider that as well.
What is your outlook for the U.S. market in 2016, and when do you expect demand to turn down?
This year we came out with a very challenging product in the new Civic, and we are planning other new, exciting models next year. So we are hoping sales will be even better next year.
Regarding the U.S. market outlook, one issue would be how the China economy evolves. Unless something extreme happens in China, like an extreme slowdown, I think the U.S. economy will be stable for the next few years.
What are your goals for the Acura brand?
Acura is a very important brand for the U.S. and for Honda.
Because we have tried to improve our sedans, such as the TLX and ILX, and the SUV lineup with the MDX and RDX, we are seeing a year-on-year sales increase of about 10 percent. And next year, the NSX will appear as our flagship. We think we now have a very solid foundation.
We will still continue to work on our sedan and SUV lineup so we can come up with very competitive products that make Acura stand out. We would especially like to introduce Acuras developed in North America to global markets, including China.
Does Acura need to be a global brand to succeed in the U.S.?
Our plan is to succeed in the U.S. and then try to supply the brand globally. It will be a global brand, but the success will first come from the United States.
What are your thoughts on autonomous driving?
There are still a number of hurdles that need to be overcome.
But while we pursue the fun aspects of driving, we also have to develop autonomous driving technologies. And one area where we have to focus is safety. We think it is very important to come up with technologies that compensate for human error.
But what's beyond that?
If we come up with a fully automated car, you won't have to drive the car to begin with. And it would also mean no matter what car you purchase, they would all drive the same.
We still need to discuss what direction to pursue.
You sound more conservative than others about the future of autonomous driving. Why is that?
I'm not denying the trend toward autonomous driving. We have to consider how we can come up with something original to Honda.
That is the issue we still have not solved.
I was in Los Angeles for two years with r&d, and I often went to classic car markets. You feel attachment to those classic cars. People have an emotional attachment. It's those kind of cars that we are talking about.
So even if we realize autonomous cars, we want to produce cars that elicit some kind of emotional attachment from people.
Can you give us an update on the Takata airbag recalls?
1st of all, we'd like to apologize to our customers for causing such an inconvenience. What we can do at this point is to first of all increase the recall rate and to try to clarify the cause of the problem as quickly as possible. We have requested a 3rd-party investigation.
11-11-2015, 03:57 PM
#562
What are your goals for the Acura brand?
Acura is a very important brand for the U.S. and for Honda.
Because we have tried to improve our sedans, such as the TLX and ILX, and the SUV lineup with the MDX and RDX, we are seeing a year-on-year sales increase of about 10 percent. And next year, the NSX will appear as our flagship. We think we now have a very solid foundation.
We will still continue to work on our sedan and SUV lineup so we can come up with very competitive products that make Acura stand out. We would especially like to introduce Acuras developed in North America to global markets, including China.
Acura is a very important brand for the U.S. and for Honda.
Because we have tried to improve our sedans, such as the TLX and ILX, and the SUV lineup with the MDX and RDX, we are seeing a year-on-year sales increase of about 10 percent. And next year, the NSX will appear as our flagship. We think we now have a very solid foundation.
We will still continue to work on our sedan and SUV lineup so we can come up with very competitive products that make Acura stand out. We would especially like to introduce Acuras developed in North America to global markets, including China.
Not even a mention of the RLX.
NSX the new flagship? Not the halo car?
RLXJust bring back the Legend name plate.
11-11-2015, 04:01 PM
#563
Team Owner
we are seeing a year-on-year sales increase of about 10 percent.
"10%? considering how bad 2014 TL and 2014 ILX were sold, do you think 10% is actually good when you introduced 3 brand new models in 2015, the RDX, ILX and TLX?"
11-11-2015, 06:04 PM
#565
AZ Community Team
You're wrong, none of those models were brand new in 2015 (intro years: TLX - 2014, RDX- 2012, ILX - 2012).
11-11-2015, 06:06 PM
#566
Team Owner
You are wrong. and you know it.
11-11-2015, 06:09 PM
#567
AZ Community Team
whatever your say
11-11-2015, 06:14 PM
#568
Team Owner
Ok face lift models and happy now?
11-12-2015, 01:11 PM
#569
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On the other hand, if we are just looking at the sedans, including both the slow selling ILX and RLX, there's a 28% growth for Year-to-date figures of Oct 2015 and Oct 2014. That is, it's 45199 units vs 57841 units.
11-12-2015, 01:25 PM
#570
Team Owner
Considering how bad 4G TL and the old ILX was selling. I expected 50% jump in sedan sales and that is not an unrealistic expectation based on Acura's past historical data.
But i also understand why they did not achieved the 50%. because their shits just not as good. But a Min. 10% increase over 2014 is nothing to brag about. That is my point.
But i also understand why they did not achieved the 50%. because their shits just not as good. But a Min. 10% increase over 2014 is nothing to brag about. That is my point.
11-12-2015, 01:26 PM
#571
Team Owner
C'mon... it's not like Acura wasn't selling any 4G TLs and ILXs.
11-12-2015, 03:08 PM
#572
AZ Community Team
It's well known that Acura has been selling more SUV's than sedans for the past several years. Unfortunately, there's a slight decline in SUV sales thus far (Oct 2014 vs Oct 2015). It's 92978 sold in Oct 2014 vs 90257 units sold in Oct 2015, Year to Date.
On the other hand, if we are just looking at the sedans, including both the slow selling ILX and RLX, there's a 28% growth for Year-to-date figures of Oct 2015 and Oct 2014. That is, it's 45199 units vs 57841 units.
On the other hand, if we are just looking at the sedans, including both the slow selling ILX and RLX, there's a 28% growth for Year-to-date figures of Oct 2015 and Oct 2014. That is, it's 45199 units vs 57841 units.
As for sedans, the TLX sales will probably break 50k for the calendar year. Not 3G records but a move in the right direction, considering the 4G TL never sold more than 40k a year.
Last edited by Legend2TL; 11-12-2015 at 03:12 PM.
11-12-2015, 05:36 PM
#573
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Considering how bad 4G TL and the old ILX was selling. I expected 50% jump in sedan sales and that is not an unrealistic expectation based on Acura's past historical data.
But i also understand why they did not achieved the 50%. because their shits just not as good. But a Min. 10% increase over 2014 is nothing to brag about. That is my point.
But i also understand why they did not achieved the 50%. because their shits just not as good. But a Min. 10% increase over 2014 is nothing to brag about. That is my point.
Don't think they are bragging about anything though. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the guy said they still want to get better with the product line up? That to me, doesn't sound like he's bragging about anything.
Meh.
My guess is the new Pilot is taking some MDX sales, year to year the MDX dropped ~1K and the Pilot increased ~5k units in October. RDX sales were up, over last October.
As for sedans, the TLX sales will probably break 50k for the calendar year. Not 3G records but a move in the right direction, considering the 4G TL never sold more than 40k a year.
As for sedans, the TLX sales will probably break 50k for the calendar year. Not 3G records but a move in the right direction, considering the 4G TL never sold more than 40k a year.
Also, with the Pilot and MDX both being produced at the same Alabama plant, I heard that production capacity is an issue now. And then there's the fact that the Odyssey is being built at the same plant too. I heard that a 3rd shift is to be added but not sure if that's been done or not.
I agree it's a possibility that the TLX may break the 50k mark. However, it's important to note that last month was the only month that the TLX broke the 5k mark. In order to reach 50k by the end of the year, it will still need average 4750 units sold for Nov and Dec. But I guess as long as Acura keeps putting money on the hood like other companies are doing, then may be it can break 50k. I'm guessing that's their short term goal too.
My concern though is the MY 2016 TLX as Acura did very little to improve it. The MY2016 Accord is much improved. Lexus updated the IS. Audi will be launching the new A4 soon. I also think BMW made some changes to the 3 series as well. I think it's safe to say that the TLX isn't a stellar product when it came out. With the latest competition, as well as the much improved Honda Accord, I think the TLX will need some serious incentives for next year.
11-13-2015, 08:55 AM
#574
AZ Community Team
...
The new Pilot is pretty darn impressive and I can see why people would pick it over the MDX.
Also, with the Pilot and MDX both being produced at the same Alabama plant, I heard that production capacity is an issue now. And then there's the fact that the Odyssey is being built at the same plant too. I heard that a 3rd shift is to be added but not sure if that's been done or not.
I agree it's a possibility that the TLX may break the 50k mark. However, it's important to note that last month was the only month that the TLX broke the 5k mark. In order to reach 50k by the end of the year, it will still need average 4750 units sold for Nov and Dec. But I guess as long as Acura keeps putting money on the hood like other companies are doing, then may be it can break 50k. I'm guessing that's their short term goal too.
My concern though is the MY 2016 TLX as Acura did very little to improve it. The MY2016 Accord is much improved. Lexus updated the IS. Audi will be launching the new A4 soon. I also think BMW made some changes to the 3 series as well. I think it's safe to say that the TLX isn't a stellar product when it came out. With the latest competition, as well as the much improved Honda Accord, I think the TLX will need some serious incentives for next year.
The new Pilot is pretty darn impressive and I can see why people would pick it over the MDX.
Also, with the Pilot and MDX both being produced at the same Alabama plant, I heard that production capacity is an issue now. And then there's the fact that the Odyssey is being built at the same plant too. I heard that a 3rd shift is to be added but not sure if that's been done or not.
I agree it's a possibility that the TLX may break the 50k mark. However, it's important to note that last month was the only month that the TLX broke the 5k mark. In order to reach 50k by the end of the year, it will still need average 4750 units sold for Nov and Dec. But I guess as long as Acura keeps putting money on the hood like other companies are doing, then may be it can break 50k. I'm guessing that's their short term goal too.
My concern though is the MY 2016 TLX as Acura did very little to improve it. The MY2016 Accord is much improved. Lexus updated the IS. Audi will be launching the new A4 soon. I also think BMW made some changes to the 3 series as well. I think it's safe to say that the TLX isn't a stellar product when it came out. With the latest competition, as well as the much improved Honda Accord, I think the TLX will need some serious incentives for next year.
The new Pilot is pretty nice, I've looked at them in the showroom and quite impressed with features/functions and material/build quality. IIRC, the new Ohio Honda assembly plants are multi-purpose for chassis size, so it should be possible to build them there if SCM allows it. In the past Honda had stuck to small/medium/large platform plants.As for the TLX, also agree it's a move in the right direction but it's not enough to effectively compete with the competition. I'm still a little surprised the Accord Sport comes with 19" wheels with 235 tires where the TLX in any config is only 17 or 18 and 225. Add in that there is no "sport" trim like the 3G (Brembo, LSD, 6MT, thicker sway bars,...). I would not buy a TLX today, it would be a Accord Sport 6MT to replace my 3G 6MT. Also add in the new features/functions of the Accord.
IDK, but I expect some significant improvement in 2017 for the TLX MMC.
11-13-2015, 12:31 PM
#575
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The new Pilot is pretty nice, I've looked at them in the showroom and quite impressed with features/functions and material/build quality. IIRC, the new Ohio Honda assembly plants are multi-purpose for chassis size, so it should be possible to build them there if SCM allows it. In the past Honda had stuck to small/medium/large platform plants.As for the TLX, also agree it's a move in the right direction but it's not enough to effectively compete with the competition. I'm still a little surprised the Accord Sport comes with 19" wheels with 235 tires where the TLX in any config is only 17 or 18 and 225. Add in that there is no "sport" trim like the 3G (Brembo, LSD, 6MT, thicker sway bars,...). I would not buy a TLX today, it would be a Accord Sport 6MT to replace my 3G 6MT. Also add in the new features/functions of the Accord.
IDK, but I expect some significant improvement in 2017 for the TLX MMC.
The Accord Sport looks good and is cheap. With the 6MT, its performance is pretty good too. The TLX needs at least a A-spec trim at this moment, better yet, a Type S would be much better.
11-14-2015, 02:02 AM
#576
2G TLX-S
Is Honda i-VTM4 = Acura SH-AWD ?
11-16-2015, 12:11 PM
#577
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I'm not sure, but there's no denying the fact that the i-VTM4 has a rear drive unit that can split torque between the rear wheels.
Jeff from TOV seems certain that these two systems are exactly the same:
The Temple of VTEC - Honda and Acura Enthusiasts Online Forums > 2016 Honda Pilot starts at $29,995 > > Re: iVTM-4 is SH-AWD
My take is that the hardware is the same for both systems while he software is different.
Jeff from TOV seems certain that these two systems are exactly the same:
The Temple of VTEC - Honda and Acura Enthusiasts Online Forums > 2016 Honda Pilot starts at $29,995 > > Re: iVTM-4 is SH-AWD
But as far as I can tell, this i-VTM4 system is EXACTLY the same SH-AWD system - same torque splits, same hydraulic clutch packs, same 2.7% overdrive, same everything.
In driving the Pilot, the difference seems to be in how Honda has tuned it. They don't have as aggressive of torque vectoring as found in the TLX or even the MDX.
They have a new Intelligent Traction Management system which offers 4 modes for the AWD - Normal, Snow, Mud, and Sand. The iVTM-4's abilities are leveraged against these modes.
In driving the Pilot, the difference seems to be in how Honda has tuned it. They don't have as aggressive of torque vectoring as found in the TLX or even the MDX.
They have a new Intelligent Traction Management system which offers 4 modes for the AWD - Normal, Snow, Mud, and Sand. The iVTM-4's abilities are leveraged against these modes.
11-17-2015, 02:17 AM
#578
2G TLX-S
If same, then the MDX is doomed.
11-17-2015, 03:20 PM
#579
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I'd think the MDX has built a strong enough reputation so that its sale will still be good for next year. Besides, Acura can always put more money on the hood to get them moving.
The thing is, the MDX is still a very good car in its segment at a very good price point. It's just that the Pilot is also very good now. With that said, I think the MDX should get a fairly major facelift for MY 2017.
The thing is, the MDX is still a very good car in its segment at a very good price point. It's just that the Pilot is also very good now. With that said, I think the MDX should get a fairly major facelift for MY 2017.
11-17-2015, 04:15 PM
#580
Team Owner
They can face lift the shit out of the new MDX but it needs more than just a facelift to differentiate itself from the Pilot now.
Unless of course, MDX will get the amazing 10 infinite speed tranny and the Type R's 2 liter turbo enginie
Unless of course, MDX will get the amazing 10 infinite speed tranny and the Type R's 2 liter turbo enginie
11-18-2015, 12:47 AM
#581
2G TLX-S
I'd think the MDX has built a strong enough reputation so that its sale will still be good for next year. Besides, Acura can always put more money on the hood to get them moving.
The thing is, the MDX is still a very good car in its segment at a very good price point. It's just that the Pilot is also very good now. With that said, I think the MDX should get a fairly major facelift for MY 2017.
The thing is, the MDX is still a very good car in its segment at a very good price point. It's just that the Pilot is also very good now. With that said, I think the MDX should get a fairly major facelift for MY 2017.
The MDX sales keep sliding down, while the new Pilot sales keep going up.
11-18-2015, 12:32 PM
#583
2G TLX-S
Engine-wise, I don't doubt Honda. But, auto tranny for V6 application, umm .......
Unless Honda can get its V6 auto trannies under control, otherwise a new auto tranny = more new headaches.
Unless Honda can get its V6 auto trannies under control, otherwise a new auto tranny = more new headaches.
02-13-2017, 06:35 AM
#585
Safety Car
Import Tax Could Raise Prices $1,312
http://www.autonews.com/article/20170213/RETAIL01/302139962/tax-threat-heightens-concern-about-affordability
Tax threat heightens concern about affordability
Border levy would ripple through industry; 'We're already pushing it'
February 13, 2017 @ 12:01 am
Prices for new cars and trucks, being pushed ever higher by fuel economy improvements, safety equipment and advanced technology, could soar out of range for many buyers with the addition of an import tax to the equation.
Among the vehicles hit hardest would be entry-level nameplates that automakers rely on as gateways for new customers but say they can't make profitably in the U.S.
According to a report issued last week by Baum & Associates, a 20 percent import tax -- the amount most commonly being discussed -- would force Tata Motors' Jaguar and Land Rover brands to raise U.S. prices by an average of $17,204 per vehicle.Send us a Letter
Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.Prices for new cars and trucks, being pushed ever higher by fuel economy improvements, safety equipment and advanced technology, could soar out of range for many buyers with the addition of an import tax to the equation.
Among the vehicles hit hardest would be entry-level nameplates that automakers rely on as gateways for new customers but say they can't make profitably in the U.S.
The tax would ripple through dealerships, which would pay more to carry higher-priced vehicles in inventory. Auto sales would inevitably decline, as some consumers instead visit a pre-owned lot or hold onto their current vehicles longer, and that could lead to job losses both on sales floors and assembly lines.
Cody Lusk, president, American International Automobile Dealers Association: "We already have an affordability issue with the auto industry."
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has spoken out against a border-adjustment tax and urged its dealers to voice their opposition. General Motors executives last week declined to weigh in on the idea of a tax but said the company is better positioned to deal with it than many competitors.
"We are supportive of efforts by President Trump and Congress to implement tax reform that improves the competitiveness of American companies," GM CFO Chuck Stevens said on a conference call with analysts. "Our analysis shows the U.S. auto industry on average derives in the mid-50 percent range of its content from non-U.S. sources. Ours is lower. If current proposals are enacted, we expect to be less affected than some others."
Stevens added that GM would benefit from tax reform because it exports a high number of vehicles from the U.S.
'Jolt to the market'
Among major automakers, Ford Motor Co. -- the target Trump has criticized most frequently for its Mexican imports -- would be least affected by a border-adjustment tax, according to a report issued last week by Baum & Associates. A 20 percent tax -- the amount most commonly being discussed -- would force Ford to raise prices by an average of $282 per vehicle, the report said, while GM would need a $995 price hike.
From there, the numbers get much tougher for consumers to swallow: $1,312 for American Honda, $1,672 for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, $2,298 for Nissan North America and $2,651 for Toyota. Automakers that import their full lineups would, logically, be even more affected, including $5,156 per vehicle for Mazda Motor and $17,204 for Tata Motors' Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
"A massive change like this would obviously be a jolt to the market," said the report's author, Alan Baum. Many buyers already are stretched to the limit, as dealers increasingly rely on seven-year and sometimes even eight-year loans to help fit monthly payments into customers' budgets.
Median U.S. household income fell 1 percent between 2005 and 2015, the most recent year for which U.S. Census data is available, while the average transaction price for a new vehicle jumped 21 percent over the same period, according to Edmunds.
"At this point we've been able to tolerate it fairly well," said Lacey Plache, Edmunds' chief economist. Low interest rates, decreasing unemployment and rising consumer confidence have helped U.S. sales reach record highs in both 2015 and 2016.
"But if any of these factors change, we do start to see a weakening ability to afford higher prices," Plache said. "Any kind of price shock, especially in the range being talked about, would definitely be a huge hit to the industry. That's a significant increase in the price of a car."
Tack a 20 percent tax onto vehicle prices, and automakers could decide to drop some low-margin product lines. They could shift some production into the U.S., but that's a lengthy and expensive process, and it makes little sense to start doing so at this point based merely on the prospect of a tax.
"You're not going to build a plant based upon a policy that may or may not come into place -- and even if it does, it may not stay in place," Baum said.
Opposition from dealers
The National Automobile Dealers Association has long railed against what it calls profit-killing regulations, including federal fuel-economy standards that it says will add thousands of dollars to vehicle prices. A border-adjustment tax such as the one being championed by some Republicans in Congress would have a similar, if not harsher, effect.
NADA President Peter Welch warned, in a speech to the Automotive News World Congress in January, that increasing costs could "turn the average car or truck into a luxury good affordable only to America's top wage earners."
"Unless we as an industry, working with policymakers at all levels of government, start looking through the lens of customer affordability, we risk imposing a new luxury tax on the vehicles our members sell, which, in turn, will depress the SAAR, reduce fleet turnover and deprive large swaths of Americans of the opportunity to obtain and benefit from the ownership of a new car or truck," Welch said. "That's a road that we as an industry and as a nation cannot afford to take."
The AIADA, which represents dealers selling foreign nameplates, is gathering dealers for a "fly in" summit in Washington next month to lobby against the proposal. The group hopes that greater awareness about the widespread effects of a tax will prevent it from getting enough support to pass.
"It isn't just on a new-car purchase. Everything having to do with a vehicle is going to go up. And this isn't just a tax on the auto sector -- it's everything that comes across the border," said Lusk, the AIADA president. "We believe that the tax code needs to be reformed, but we don't think it ought to be on the backs of American consumers."
02-13-2017, 10:01 AM
#586
Azine Jabroni
This tax hike on imports would destroy us. We import more than we export. Cars would just be the tip of the iceberg.
I doubt this ever comes to fruition.
I doubt this ever comes to fruition.
02-22-2017, 06:21 AM
#587
Safety Car
Mendel
http://www.autonews.com/article/20170221/OEM02/170229976/hondas-mendel-to-retire-april-1-conrad-gets-top-role
Honda's Mendel to retire April 1; Conrad gets top role
February 21, 2017 @ 12:00 pm
His duties will be taken over by Jeff Conrad, general manager of the Honda division, who now adds Acura division to his portfolio, the company said Tuesday in a statement outlining several management changes in Honda’s North American operations.
“This was really just about time,” Mendel, 62, told Automotive News. “I’ve done this for almost 42 years now and I’d love to stay longer, but candidly I dragged my family around for 41 years so it’s time I give them another 41 back.”
More time with family includes starting a distillery with one of his sons in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. The outfit will be called Devil’s Creek Distillery, named after a fictional town in a novel written by Mendel’s wife, Luan.
Mendel also plans to keep one foot in the automotive space by working with “a dealer group or two” to develop leadership training practices. “We’ll see where that evolves,” he added.
He’ll have plenty of experience to draw from.
Mendel will exit American Honda with the Honda division on an upward trajectory and with a product lineup that is among the freshest and most competitive in the industry. Honda won the North American Truck of the Year award for 2017 with its Ridgeline, and the Car of the Year award the year before for its Civic.
American Honda’s U.S. sales totaled a record 1,637,943 units in 2016, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, and a 12 percent jump from 2005, Mendel’s first full year at Honda.
Much of this is attributed to Honda responding to lapses in quality and refocusing on engineering class-leading vehicles, a hallmark of the brand that helped Honda earn its reputation for reliability and quality 40 years ago. Among the other changes announced Tuesday:
• Dave Gardner, currently senior vice president, becomes president of Honda Canada, succeeding Jerry Chenkin, who is retiring.• Masayuki Igarashi becomes executive vice president for auto, auto operations and export sales at American Honda; Igarashi is currently COO of power-product operations for Honda Motor Co.
Mendel assumed his role at Honda in 2004 after a brief stint at Mazda and more than 28 years at Ford.Under Mendel’s guidance, Honda has resisted the temptation to chase volume and market share targets by selling to fleet operations. While this has undoubtedly tempered Honda’s sales growth at times, it has kept the residual values the envy of the industry. Incentives, too, have been well below the industry average.
Mendel also helped oversee American Honda’s handling of the Takata airbag inflator crisis, which affected 10.7 million Honda and Acura vehicles. He served as co-leader of the automaker’s Takata response committee, which used aggressive and unusual tactics to find vehicles affected by the potentially deadly defect and make sure repairs were made.
The Acura brand itself was another crucial challenge for Mendel, and remains a trouble spot, more than 25 years after its founding. From 2005 to 2016, Acura sales actually dropped 19 percent. The near-luxury brand continues to struggle to find both customers and its own identity, settling most recently on the “Precision Crafted Performance” tagline and pegging its latest turnaround on reviving an oft-overlooked sedan lineup.
In 2014, American Honda acknowledged that the brand was adrift, and took steps to give Acura greater independence by creating a separate sales and marketing division for it. It was headed up first by Mike Accavitti and later Jon Ikeda, who currently serves as its general manager.
Prior to joining Honda, Mendel spent two years at Mazda as the brand’s chief operating officer and executive vice president of sales and marketing. He joined Mazda from Ford, where he rose through the marketing ranks during a 28-year tenure that culminated with a stint as director of marketing for Ford of Britain from 1999 to 2002.
Mendel -- who had been working with Honda for the past nine months regarding his departure -- told dealers this week of his plans. They were surprised, according to Mendel. But their anxiety was quelled upon learning that Conrad, himself a longtime Honda executive, was set to take over.
“A lot is due to them knowing who my successor is,” Mendel said. “Jeff has been around Honda and Acura for a long time now and he bleeds Honda blue.”
You can reach David Undercoffler at undercoffler@crain.com -- Follow David on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/autonews_west
284
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Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.UPDATED: 2/21/17 7:50 pm ET -- adds Mendel remarksLOS ANGELES -- John Mendel, an auto industry veteran who steered Honda and Acura through the Takata airbag crisis and championed the brands’ strict discipline against fleet sales and heavy incentives, is retiring as executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co.’s auto divisions, effective April 1.
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John Mendel, left, will retire and his duties will be assumed by Jeff Conrad.
Send us a Letter
His duties will be taken over by Jeff Conrad, general manager of the Honda division, who now adds Acura division to his portfolio, the company said Tuesday in a statement outlining several management changes in Honda’s North American operations.
“This was really just about time,” Mendel, 62, told Automotive News. “I’ve done this for almost 42 years now and I’d love to stay longer, but candidly I dragged my family around for 41 years so it’s time I give them another 41 back.”
More time with family includes starting a distillery with one of his sons in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. The outfit will be called Devil’s Creek Distillery, named after a fictional town in a novel written by Mendel’s wife, Luan.
Mendel also plans to keep one foot in the automotive space by working with “a dealer group or two” to develop leadership training practices. “We’ll see where that evolves,” he added.
He’ll have plenty of experience to draw from.
Mendel will exit American Honda with the Honda division on an upward trajectory and with a product lineup that is among the freshest and most competitive in the industry. Honda won the North American Truck of the Year award for 2017 with its Ridgeline, and the Car of the Year award the year before for its Civic.
American Honda’s U.S. sales totaled a record 1,637,943 units in 2016, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, and a 12 percent jump from 2005, Mendel’s first full year at Honda.
Much of this is attributed to Honda responding to lapses in quality and refocusing on engineering class-leading vehicles, a hallmark of the brand that helped Honda earn its reputation for reliability and quality 40 years ago. Among the other changes announced Tuesday:
• Dave Gardner, currently senior vice president, becomes president of Honda Canada, succeeding Jerry Chenkin, who is retiring.• Masayuki Igarashi becomes executive vice president for auto, auto operations and export sales at American Honda; Igarashi is currently COO of power-product operations for Honda Motor Co.
Mendel assumed his role at Honda in 2004 after a brief stint at Mazda and more than 28 years at Ford.Under Mendel’s guidance, Honda has resisted the temptation to chase volume and market share targets by selling to fleet operations. While this has undoubtedly tempered Honda’s sales growth at times, it has kept the residual values the envy of the industry. Incentives, too, have been well below the industry average.
Mendel also helped oversee American Honda’s handling of the Takata airbag inflator crisis, which affected 10.7 million Honda and Acura vehicles. He served as co-leader of the automaker’s Takata response committee, which used aggressive and unusual tactics to find vehicles affected by the potentially deadly defect and make sure repairs were made.
The Acura brand itself was another crucial challenge for Mendel, and remains a trouble spot, more than 25 years after its founding. From 2005 to 2016, Acura sales actually dropped 19 percent. The near-luxury brand continues to struggle to find both customers and its own identity, settling most recently on the “Precision Crafted Performance” tagline and pegging its latest turnaround on reviving an oft-overlooked sedan lineup.
In 2014, American Honda acknowledged that the brand was adrift, and took steps to give Acura greater independence by creating a separate sales and marketing division for it. It was headed up first by Mike Accavitti and later Jon Ikeda, who currently serves as its general manager.
Prior to joining Honda, Mendel spent two years at Mazda as the brand’s chief operating officer and executive vice president of sales and marketing. He joined Mazda from Ford, where he rose through the marketing ranks during a 28-year tenure that culminated with a stint as director of marketing for Ford of Britain from 1999 to 2002.
Mendel -- who had been working with Honda for the past nine months regarding his departure -- told dealers this week of his plans. They were surprised, according to Mendel. But their anxiety was quelled upon learning that Conrad, himself a longtime Honda executive, was set to take over.
“A lot is due to them knowing who my successor is,” Mendel said. “Jeff has been around Honda and Acura for a long time now and he bleeds Honda blue.”
You can reach David Undercoffler at undercoffler@crain.com -- Follow David on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/autonews_west
03-27-2017, 05:52 PM
#588
Safety Car
AutoNews
http://www.autonews.com/article/2017...del-drives-off
After 41 years, Honda's Mendel drives off
A stabilizing force at Honda still holds out hope for surprises
March 27, 2017 @ 12:01 am
Forty-one years can teach you a lot about the auto industry -- including when it's the right time to go out on top, retire to a California ski resort town and start your own distillery.
On Saturday, April 1, John Mendel will do just that, after a 12-year run as head of American Honda's vehicle operations and an expansive career in the industry that included a long lap at Ford and a pit stop at Mazda. He'll be succeeded by Jeff Conrad.
A steady hand at the helm of American Honda since 2004, Mendel, 62, helped steer it through some of the brand's most difficult storms. Among them:
• The Japan earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 that devastated Honda's supply chains and took several years to recover from.
• A product malaise that began before the Great Recession and continued afterward, culminating in the poorly received 2012 Civic.
• The Takata airbag crisis, an industrywide debacle that struck Honda hardest, with 10 U.S. deaths linked to the airbag defect occurring in Honda vehicles.
Through it all, Mendel channeled Honda's commitment to sales discipline, avoiding the heavy incentive spending -- sometimes to dealers' dismay -- and fleet sales that many brands reflexively turn to in tough times. Together, they forged a product-centric sales strategy that tempered the industry's up and down cycles.
"The temptation is strong" to try to squeeze out an extra sale for the sake of bragging rights or market share, Mendel told Automotive News. "But if it flies in the face of your long-term strategy, then it's really a distraction."
There were some puzzles even Mendel couldn't crack.
Acura remains an albatross. Having struggled to settle on an identity throughout Mendel's tenure, it remains a bit player in the luxury space. That could change now as Acura expands beyond the U.S. and positions itself to command more resources from Honda in Japan. "I see very bright days ahead for Acura," he said.
As the industry looks ahead to a future of autonomous or shared vehicles, Mendel said the nearer term bears watching, too. "The changing dynamic in the industry that will affect it the most in the next 10 years is really around how people buy cars," he said. "I think that the access to information, the access to online shopping, those kinds of things will have a more dramatic impact much sooner than autonomous vehicles."
Post-Honda, Mendel will combine his passion for skiing and his interest in distilled spirits. Visitors to California's Mammoth Lakes resort town, where Mendel has long had a home, now will find him running Devil's Creek Distillery with one of his sons.
But like most auto industry lifers, he plans to do some consulting on the side.
Mendel was on one of the final transcontinental business trips of his tenure at Honda last week when he spoke by phone with Staff Reporter David Undercoffler.
Q: In this industry, people don't necessarily stick around at one company as long as you did. What made that possible?
A: I think Honda has given me the opportunity to succeed, as it does all its associates. And I think that, candidly, I have been very, very lucky. Earthquake and tsunami notwithstanding, Lehman shock notwithstanding, the company has been very accommodating, very supportive of the strategy that we've put together to try to get to success. We look at consistency and stability as a good thing, and we don't always try to pull the plant up by the stalk out of the pot every day to see if it's growing. It's letting the strategies mature and letting the execution actually happen. So I would also say the company has responded in kind in terms of valuing the commitment that I made to Honda and the stability that I brought.
Honda has been beating the retail-over-fleet sales drum for years, but now others seem to have finally taken notice. Why don't more automakers share that practice?
Well, it's a long-term view versus a short-term view. The temptation is strong to grab a headline, grab a quick one, the "It's only just one more, gosh, that's so close, let's just grab that one. I know it's off-strategy, but let's do it."
But if it flies in the face of your long-term strategy, then it's really a distraction. I certainly would never pooh-pooh someone else's strategy, but I think that ours has been one of really intensely believing and living that focus on not doing anything to disappoint or to shake the trust that the customer puts in you.
We believe that no one should buy a vehicle cheaper than the customer who's buying them one at a time. That's going to help drive your [thinking] around whether you do fleet business. And I'm not here to say it's good business or bad business. It's just bad for our business model that anybody would go in the market and buy a car cheaper than our customers could.
So when you look at everything you do through that lens, residual values, retained values for the customer, total cost of ownership, convenience, it becomes pretty clear.
Are crises like Takata, where an issue with one supplier suddenly affects tens of millions of vehicles across the industry, increasingly inevitable?
If you draw the line and say you go from 50 lug nut manufacturers to one, and the entire industry uses them, certainly. You get a bad batch, or heat treating or something goes wrong, certainly you could have that.
I think, though, there will come some stasis in the business, if not in economic terms, in terms of quality where the overdependence on a single source especially around safety-type things becomes a disadvantage. I don't know whether that can be legislated. I don't think it can. But I think there has to be some balance there that multiple sources are going to have to be found for most things, particularly around safety items.
What do you say to a dealer who is looking 20 years into the future, when potentially fewer people will be buying and servicing cars, thanks to autonomy and car-sharing and the like?
Just as I would have underestimated the change in the industry 20 years ago by trying to predict what it would look like in 2017, we can under-predict or over-predict the impact of things like driverless cars or autonomous vehicles, etc. Rather than trying to predict what it's going to look like, the better answer is really how quickly you can change and how quickly you can adapt the business model. That's where the survivors will be.
The bigger issue near term is how people buy. The changing dynamic in the industry that will affect it the most in the next 10 years is really around how people buy cars. I think that the access to information, the access to online shopping, those kinds of things will have a more dramatic impact much sooner than autonomous vehicles or body shops. People still do want service. We're not quite where we are with cellphones, where if something happens, you take it in and they give you a new one. Cars are kind of meatier pieces with more user-replaceable parts.
Honda is firing on all cylinders with a product-led resurgence. Why hasn't Acura been able to match that success?
One of the issues is that Acura up until now has been a U.S. brand and not a global brand. So when you think about the resources that can be brought to bear on core vehicles like CR-V, Accord or Civic that sell 500,000 to a million vehicles a year globally, your product development decisions become not only more important but incrementally more friendly.
Acura traditionally has been sold primarily just in the U.S., and therefore when you amortize significant product decisions over just U.S. volume -- and by the way, this would go the same way for Audi or Mercedes -- you're less able to do it.
That's the brass tacks of it. The good news is that as we have expanded Acura into China and the Middle East and Russia and other places, we've now been able to garner the more global resources to fill in that product deficit. And it gives us an opportunity to now expand the portfolio and focus on building strength in the core models for Acura.
So ILX, TLX, MDX, RDX, obviously NSX, which probably wouldn't have happened if it were just going to be an Acura only in the U.S. But because of the global volume, you could question even global volume and say it's relatively low volumes, but it made that vehicle possible.
As we've expanded that, garnered the commitment of the resources for global Honda, I see very bright days ahead for Acura. It's been a while coming, and I'm certainly no stranger to that, but I do see a bright future for it.
With Toyota in the middle of a restructuring and move to Texas, does Honda have the right North American structure between its brands and r&d efforts?
I think we do. We've always been quite a bit leaner than most everybody else. We also don't have a shadow management system that others have had -- and that's not a reflection of Toyota -- but different people structure differently. We don't have the luxury or don't believe we need the luxury of having people who do nothing but watch or keep an eye on somebody else. (Laughs) Everybody is fully employed and engaged in a specific job. So we think we do have the right structure.
So folks in Japan are happy with both the physical structure and the organizational structure?
I don't know if we spend a lot of time thinking about the structure as much as we think about the outcome we want. If you know where you want to go, the path becomes pretty clear. We try to do that with the organization as well.
From a product standpoint, what are Honda's weak spots, or what's missing altogether from its lineup?
I'd be hard-pressed to say that anything we're making right now is not fresh or cold. I'd have to say more about where I personally would love to think that Honda could showcase its penchant for building stuff that runs like it stole the day -- an S2000 or an S3000 or an S3500 or something that really showcases all the capabilities of Honda in design, in manufacturing and everything else.
S2000 was a surprise for the 2000 model year. It was this thing that was never supposed to last more than a few years, and that was the genesis of the name: Surprise for 2000. I'd love to see another surprise S-something. There's always a surprise in the works. I'm never astonished at the times I'll walk by a bay or something in r&d, and somebody will close the door quickly on the front end of something that I know isn't of this world. Those things always exist in the background.
The great news is I just spent a couple of days in Tokyo and had the good fortune to have a dinner with our senior leadership of Mr. [Takahiro] Hachigo [global CEO of Honda] and Mr. [Toshiaki] Mikoshiba [CEO of American Honda] and Mr. [Seiji] Kuraishi [executive vice president of Honda Motor], and I know that the same passion that burns bright in Undercoffler and Mendel for that spirited, fun, unique sort of surprise vehicle that showcases everything burns just as brightly in their chest as well.
So I think that time will prove me right in saying that there's another surprise in your future, whether it's an S2000 or something different.
We're always going to be cooking something in the back of the kitchen, which when it's done will be magnificent.
You can reach David Undercoffler at undercoffler@crain.com -- Follow David on Twitter: @autonews_west
35
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Photo credit: BLOOMBERGSend us a Letter
Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.Forty-one years can teach you a lot about the auto industry -- including when it's the right time to go out on top, retire to a California ski resort town and start your own distillery.
On Saturday, April 1, John Mendel will do just that, after a 12-year run as head of American Honda's vehicle operations and an expansive career in the industry that included a long lap at Ford and a pit stop at Mazda. He'll be succeeded by Jeff Conrad.
A steady hand at the helm of American Honda since 2004, Mendel, 62, helped steer it through some of the brand's most difficult storms. Among them:
• The Japan earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 that devastated Honda's supply chains and took several years to recover from.
• A product malaise that began before the Great Recession and continued afterward, culminating in the poorly received 2012 Civic.
• The Takata airbag crisis, an industrywide debacle that struck Honda hardest, with 10 U.S. deaths linked to the airbag defect occurring in Honda vehicles.
Through it all, Mendel channeled Honda's commitment to sales discipline, avoiding the heavy incentive spending -- sometimes to dealers' dismay -- and fleet sales that many brands reflexively turn to in tough times. Together, they forged a product-centric sales strategy that tempered the industry's up and down cycles.
"The temptation is strong" to try to squeeze out an extra sale for the sake of bragging rights or market share, Mendel told Automotive News. "But if it flies in the face of your long-term strategy, then it's really a distraction."
There were some puzzles even Mendel couldn't crack.
Acura remains an albatross. Having struggled to settle on an identity throughout Mendel's tenure, it remains a bit player in the luxury space. That could change now as Acura expands beyond the U.S. and positions itself to command more resources from Honda in Japan. "I see very bright days ahead for Acura," he said.
As the industry looks ahead to a future of autonomous or shared vehicles, Mendel said the nearer term bears watching, too. "The changing dynamic in the industry that will affect it the most in the next 10 years is really around how people buy cars," he said. "I think that the access to information, the access to online shopping, those kinds of things will have a more dramatic impact much sooner than autonomous vehicles."
Post-Honda, Mendel will combine his passion for skiing and his interest in distilled spirits. Visitors to California's Mammoth Lakes resort town, where Mendel has long had a home, now will find him running Devil's Creek Distillery with one of his sons.
But like most auto industry lifers, he plans to do some consulting on the side.
Mendel was on one of the final transcontinental business trips of his tenure at Honda last week when he spoke by phone with Staff Reporter David Undercoffler.
Photo credit: BLOOMBERG
A: I think Honda has given me the opportunity to succeed, as it does all its associates. And I think that, candidly, I have been very, very lucky. Earthquake and tsunami notwithstanding, Lehman shock notwithstanding, the company has been very accommodating, very supportive of the strategy that we've put together to try to get to success. We look at consistency and stability as a good thing, and we don't always try to pull the plant up by the stalk out of the pot every day to see if it's growing. It's letting the strategies mature and letting the execution actually happen. So I would also say the company has responded in kind in terms of valuing the commitment that I made to Honda and the stability that I brought.
Honda has been beating the retail-over-fleet sales drum for years, but now others seem to have finally taken notice. Why don't more automakers share that practice?
Well, it's a long-term view versus a short-term view. The temptation is strong to grab a headline, grab a quick one, the "It's only just one more, gosh, that's so close, let's just grab that one. I know it's off-strategy, but let's do it."
But if it flies in the face of your long-term strategy, then it's really a distraction. I certainly would never pooh-pooh someone else's strategy, but I think that ours has been one of really intensely believing and living that focus on not doing anything to disappoint or to shake the trust that the customer puts in you.
We believe that no one should buy a vehicle cheaper than the customer who's buying them one at a time. That's going to help drive your [thinking] around whether you do fleet business. And I'm not here to say it's good business or bad business. It's just bad for our business model that anybody would go in the market and buy a car cheaper than our customers could.
So when you look at everything you do through that lens, residual values, retained values for the customer, total cost of ownership, convenience, it becomes pretty clear.
Are crises like Takata, where an issue with one supplier suddenly affects tens of millions of vehicles across the industry, increasingly inevitable?
If you draw the line and say you go from 50 lug nut manufacturers to one, and the entire industry uses them, certainly. You get a bad batch, or heat treating or something goes wrong, certainly you could have that.
I think, though, there will come some stasis in the business, if not in economic terms, in terms of quality where the overdependence on a single source especially around safety-type things becomes a disadvantage. I don't know whether that can be legislated. I don't think it can. But I think there has to be some balance there that multiple sources are going to have to be found for most things, particularly around safety items.
What do you say to a dealer who is looking 20 years into the future, when potentially fewer people will be buying and servicing cars, thanks to autonomy and car-sharing and the like?
Just as I would have underestimated the change in the industry 20 years ago by trying to predict what it would look like in 2017, we can under-predict or over-predict the impact of things like driverless cars or autonomous vehicles, etc. Rather than trying to predict what it's going to look like, the better answer is really how quickly you can change and how quickly you can adapt the business model. That's where the survivors will be.
The bigger issue near term is how people buy. The changing dynamic in the industry that will affect it the most in the next 10 years is really around how people buy cars. I think that the access to information, the access to online shopping, those kinds of things will have a more dramatic impact much sooner than autonomous vehicles or body shops. People still do want service. We're not quite where we are with cellphones, where if something happens, you take it in and they give you a new one. Cars are kind of meatier pieces with more user-replaceable parts.
Honda is firing on all cylinders with a product-led resurgence. Why hasn't Acura been able to match that success?
One of the issues is that Acura up until now has been a U.S. brand and not a global brand. So when you think about the resources that can be brought to bear on core vehicles like CR-V, Accord or Civic that sell 500,000 to a million vehicles a year globally, your product development decisions become not only more important but incrementally more friendly.
Acura traditionally has been sold primarily just in the U.S., and therefore when you amortize significant product decisions over just U.S. volume -- and by the way, this would go the same way for Audi or Mercedes -- you're less able to do it.
That's the brass tacks of it. The good news is that as we have expanded Acura into China and the Middle East and Russia and other places, we've now been able to garner the more global resources to fill in that product deficit. And it gives us an opportunity to now expand the portfolio and focus on building strength in the core models for Acura.
So ILX, TLX, MDX, RDX, obviously NSX, which probably wouldn't have happened if it were just going to be an Acura only in the U.S. But because of the global volume, you could question even global volume and say it's relatively low volumes, but it made that vehicle possible.
As we've expanded that, garnered the commitment of the resources for global Honda, I see very bright days ahead for Acura. It's been a while coming, and I'm certainly no stranger to that, but I do see a bright future for it.
With Toyota in the middle of a restructuring and move to Texas, does Honda have the right North American structure between its brands and r&d efforts?
I think we do. We've always been quite a bit leaner than most everybody else. We also don't have a shadow management system that others have had -- and that's not a reflection of Toyota -- but different people structure differently. We don't have the luxury or don't believe we need the luxury of having people who do nothing but watch or keep an eye on somebody else. (Laughs) Everybody is fully employed and engaged in a specific job. So we think we do have the right structure.
So folks in Japan are happy with both the physical structure and the organizational structure?
I don't know if we spend a lot of time thinking about the structure as much as we think about the outcome we want. If you know where you want to go, the path becomes pretty clear. We try to do that with the organization as well.
From a product standpoint, what are Honda's weak spots, or what's missing altogether from its lineup?
I'd be hard-pressed to say that anything we're making right now is not fresh or cold. I'd have to say more about where I personally would love to think that Honda could showcase its penchant for building stuff that runs like it stole the day -- an S2000 or an S3000 or an S3500 or something that really showcases all the capabilities of Honda in design, in manufacturing and everything else.
S2000 was a surprise for the 2000 model year. It was this thing that was never supposed to last more than a few years, and that was the genesis of the name: Surprise for 2000. I'd love to see another surprise S-something. There's always a surprise in the works. I'm never astonished at the times I'll walk by a bay or something in r&d, and somebody will close the door quickly on the front end of something that I know isn't of this world. Those things always exist in the background.
The great news is I just spent a couple of days in Tokyo and had the good fortune to have a dinner with our senior leadership of Mr. [Takahiro] Hachigo [global CEO of Honda] and Mr. [Toshiaki] Mikoshiba [CEO of American Honda] and Mr. [Seiji] Kuraishi [executive vice president of Honda Motor], and I know that the same passion that burns bright in Undercoffler and Mendel for that spirited, fun, unique sort of surprise vehicle that showcases everything burns just as brightly in their chest as well.
So I think that time will prove me right in saying that there's another surprise in your future, whether it's an S2000 or something different.
We're always going to be cooking something in the back of the kitchen, which when it's done will be magnificent.
You can reach David Undercoffler at undercoffler@crain.com -- Follow David on Twitter: @autonews_west
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Legend2TL (03-30-2017)
03-28-2017, 11:50 AM
#589
Honda is firing on all cylinders with a product-led resurgence. Why hasn't Acura been able to match that success?
One of the issues is that Acura up until now has been a U.S. brand and not a global brand. So when you think about the resources that can be brought to bear on core vehicles like CR-V, Accord or Civic that sell 500,000 to a million vehicles a year globally, your product development decisions become not only more important but incrementally more friendly.
Acura traditionally has been sold primarily just in the U.S., and therefore when you amortize significant product decisions over just U.S. volume -- and by the way, this would go the same way for Audi or Mercedes -- you're less able to do it.
That's the brass tacks of it. The good news is that as we have expanded Acura into China and the Middle East and Russia and other places, we've now been able to garner the more global resources to fill in that product deficit. And it gives us an opportunity to now expand the portfolio and focus on building strength in the core models for Acura.
So ILX, TLX, MDX, RDX, obviously NSX, which probably wouldn't have happened if it were just going to be an Acura only in the U.S. But because of the global volume, you could question even global volume and say it's relatively low volumes, but it made that vehicle possible.
One of the issues is that Acura up until now has been a U.S. brand and not a global brand. So when you think about the resources that can be brought to bear on core vehicles like CR-V, Accord or Civic that sell 500,000 to a million vehicles a year globally, your product development decisions become not only more important but incrementally more friendly.
Acura traditionally has been sold primarily just in the U.S., and therefore when you amortize significant product decisions over just U.S. volume -- and by the way, this would go the same way for Audi or Mercedes -- you're less able to do it.
That's the brass tacks of it. The good news is that as we have expanded Acura into China and the Middle East and Russia and other places, we've now been able to garner the more global resources to fill in that product deficit. And it gives us an opportunity to now expand the portfolio and focus on building strength in the core models for Acura.
So ILX, TLX, MDX, RDX, obviously NSX, which probably wouldn't have happened if it were just going to be an Acura only in the U.S. But because of the global volume, you could question even global volume and say it's relatively low volumes, but it made that vehicle possible.
04-09-2017, 03:44 PM
#591
Race Director
04-10-2017, 06:29 AM
#592
a fuck you, Honda Japan. I told you so.
I read in an article the other day; that is how the new Ford GT was conceived
the Head designer/engineer wanted the mustang to compete in the race class but Ford said no.
dude said fuck y'all and worked on the Ford GT in secret
04-10-2017, 12:26 PM
#593
You'll Never Walk Alone
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if that is indeed true....I could see Acura USA DOING everything in their power to get the RLX to tank.
a fuck you, Honda Japan. I told you so.
I read in an article the other day; that is how the new Ford GT was conceived
the Head designer/engineer wanted the mustang to compete in the race class but Ford said no.
dude said fuck y'all and worked on the Ford GT in secret
a fuck you, Honda Japan. I told you so.
I read in an article the other day; that is how the new Ford GT was conceived
the Head designer/engineer wanted the mustang to compete in the race class but Ford said no.
dude said fuck y'all and worked on the Ford GT in secret
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justnspace (04-10-2017)
04-10-2017, 03:42 PM
#595
AZ Community Team
if that is indeed true....I could see Acura USA DOING everything in their power to get the RLX to tank.
a fuck you, Honda Japan. I told you so.
I read in an article the other day; that is how the new Ford GT was conceived
the Head designer/engineer wanted the mustang to compete in the race class but Ford said no.
dude said fuck y'all and worked on the Ford GT in secret
a fuck you, Honda Japan. I told you so.
I read in an article the other day; that is how the new Ford GT was conceived
the Head designer/engineer wanted the mustang to compete in the race class but Ford said no.
dude said fuck y'all and worked on the Ford GT in secret
gizmodo-default
I like another stealth car story was the GM exec who saved the Corvette in the 90's from being shutdown after being told to shutter the Vette.
It cost him his job, but today he's thankful the Vette is still around.
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justnspace (04-11-2017)
04-11-2017, 07:06 AM
#596
Senior Moderator
BUT to play devils advocate, Acura USA didnt do themselves any favors by designing a car so bland and what people didnt want. They could have made it better.
09-01-2017, 11:09 AM
#597
Safety Car
Posted Now
Honda & Acura has the sales chart posted now. Not sure they were trying to hide it, perhaps they just left if off by mistake & I posted before they fixed it ... ?
American Honda Reports August 2017 Auto Sales
Sep 1, 2017 - TORRANCE, Calif.
Honda
Honda cars showed no signs of slowing in August, with Civic grabbing a strong 11.2 percent gain versus 2016 and Accord holding steady in the final year of its current form, despite all-new competition. With the exception of HR-V, which set a new August record close to its best month ever, Honda trucks were still feeling the pinch of tight supplies in August.
Acura
The ILX, Acura's gateway model, again led Acura sales gains in August as the luxury sedan market saw many luxury carmakers continuing to pour on the incentives in a bid to find sales. On the truck side, the Acura RDX continued to show sales strength, setting a new August record in 1 of the industry's hottest segments.
- Honda HR-V sets yet another new monthly record in August
- Sporty models boost Honda Civic to strong increase
- Honda core products Accord, Civic and CR-V all top 30,000 in sales in August
- Acura RDX sets new August sales record
- Acura ILX gains again, up 17.7 percent in August
Honda
Honda cars showed no signs of slowing in August, with Civic grabbing a strong 11.2 percent gain versus 2016 and Accord holding steady in the final year of its current form, despite all-new competition. With the exception of HR-V, which set a new August record close to its best month ever, Honda trucks were still feeling the pinch of tight supplies in August.
- HR-V set a new August sales record, jumping 26.7 percent on sales of 9,603, just 176 shy of its best month ever.
- Civic sales again topped 36,000, for a gain of 11.2 percent in August.
- Accord crested 30,000 sales for the month as it continued to buck the downward sedan sales trends among other manufacturers.
Acura
The ILX, Acura's gateway model, again led Acura sales gains in August as the luxury sedan market saw many luxury carmakers continuing to pour on the incentives in a bid to find sales. On the truck side, the Acura RDX continued to show sales strength, setting a new August record in 1 of the industry's hottest segments.
- ILX sales were up for the 3rd month in a row, gaining 17.7 percent in August on sales of 1,380.
- RDX set a new August sales record, gaining 11.2 percent on sales of 4,679 for the month.
09-08-2017, 12:00 PM
#598
You'll Never Walk Alone
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Here's a summary of what happened during the past decade or so with Honda. It's a long read but some good details there if you are interested:
How Honda lost its mojo - and the mission to get it back
How Honda lost its mojo - and the mission to get it back
09-08-2017, 12:17 PM
#599
Race Director
Here's a summary of what happened during the past decade or so with Honda. It's a long read but some good details there if you are interested:
How Honda lost its mojo - and the mission to get it back
How Honda lost its mojo - and the mission to get it back
09-08-2017, 05:25 PM
#600
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I like this rendering..looks good!
I heard there will be quite a few Japanese sports cars will be shown at the Tokyo Auto Show next month, including a S2000 replacement.
I heard there will be quite a few Japanese sports cars will be shown at the Tokyo Auto Show next month, including a S2000 replacement.