Heck Freezes Over: Honda Trims New Pilot, Odyssey

(MoneyWatch)  This isn't as big a deal as Ford postponing the all-new F-Series pickup (which I characterized earlier as "hell freezing over"), or Chrysler cutting back its new minivans, but Honda confirmed this week it's cutting back slightly on production of its all-new 2009 Honda Pilot SUV, and the Honda Odyssey minivan.

Pilot sales were down 29.8 percent in June, versus the year-ago month, according to AutoData. The new Honda Pilot was introduced in late May. The Pilot is an established model for a well-respected brand. That illustrates what a tough market Kia faces with its new SUV, the Kia Borrego, since Kia is a lesser-known and less prestigious brand.

Meanwhile, Odyssey sales were down 18.8 percent in June.

At the same time, Honda said it is increasing production of the Honda Civic small car. In keeping with the trend toward fuel efficiency, Ford earlier said it would hike production of its Ford Focus model.

"Business is soft on the truck side, but cars like our Civic are selling extremely well," said Honda spokesman David Iida.

Similarly, Toyota announced earlier this month it is cutting back production of its Tundra fullsize pickup and the closely related Sequoia fullsize SUV, and hiking production of the Prius hybrid sedan.

Honda's Iida said the production cuts for the Pilot and the Odyssey will not cause any layoffs.