Honda Ignores Mr. Opportunity Knocking in 2010
Honda (HMC) had a great chance this year to pick up some share in the United States, with its biggest rival Toyota (TM) having problems with claims of unintended acceleration, and two out of three U.S. manufacturers just out of bankruptcy.
Instead, Honda had problems of its own and ended up losing share in the United States alongside Toyota. If there's a silver lining, it's that Honda lost less share than Toyota.
It's probably also true that Honda could be selling more cars in the United States if it really went crazy with discounting, but that's not a prudent thing to do, either. I wrote recently that Toyota deserves credit for being willing to sacrifice share for profits. Honda probably deserves a nod in that regard, too.
Nevertheless, 2010 probably won't be a year to remember, for either Honda or Toyota. According to AutoData, Honda's U.S. share year-to-date through November was 10.5 percent, down from 11.1 percent a year ago. Toyota slipped to 15.2 percent, from 16.8 percent.
What happened? Timing was a big problem for Honda this year. Automotive News points out that Honda is at a weak point in its new-product introductions. Automotive News said two of Honda's biggest sellers, the Honda Civic small car and the Honda CR-V small SUV are lame ducks, in their last year of production, and the current Honda Accord is also nearly due for a redesign. (I should mention that besides BNET Autos, I also write for Automotive News.)
Honda also announced recently it will discontinue the Honda Element, a squared-off cross between an SUV and a station wagon. Its styling (pictured) was new and different when it debuted as a concept car a decade ago, but not so much any more. Honda Element sales fell more than 40 percent last year, according to AutoData. Sales are up a few percentage points this year.
In addition, the Honda Insight hybrid has also been a sales disappointment. Sales this year should just top 20,000. Honda sold about 1,500 in November, vs. more than 10,000 units for the Toyota Prius.
Honda introduced the new hybrid last year as a hybrid "for everyone." That's a veiled reference to the fact that the Honda Insight is priced a couple of thousand dollars below the Toyota Prius.
Low sales would be easier to accept if the Honda Insight served as a "halo" car to shine up Honda's brand image. However, Consumer Reports panned the Honda Insight as noisy and clumsy, even though Honda says feedback from buyers is positive. Automotive News included the Honda Insight among its Blunders of the Year feature for 2009.
Mr. Opportunity has been Honda's animated advertising spokesman for "limited-time offers." Incentives used to be almost unheard-of at Honda but not any more. Mr. Opportunity pretended to knock on the inside of your TV screen, to make sure you didn't miss out on a rare opportunity. For 2010, it looks like Honda may have missed it themselves.
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