The Evergrowing Success Of Honda Cars

• August
• 27

11:37 pm car

While other automakers scramble to downsize their vehicles, Honda Motor just keeps reloading its lineup of fuel-efficient, small cars.

The hottest auto company in the United States, Honda is about to shift into an even higher gear with its introduction of a new versionof the Fit subcompact. Sales of the current edition of the Fit have increased a stunning 79 percent this year as part of the broader trend by consumers away from larger, gas-guzzling vehicles.But with its new Fit, which gets 34 miles per gallon, or about 7 liters per 100 kilometers, in highway driving, Honda is further burnishing its reputation as the automaker best prepared to capitalize on a rapidly changing market.

Honda’s U.S. sales are up 3 percent this year in a market that has fallen 11 percent. By comparison, General Motors’ sales are down nearly 18 percent, Ford Motor has dropped 14 percent, and Toyota has decreased 7 percent.The success of Honda has been simple. While its rivals choke on huge inventories of unsold trucks and sport utility vehicles, small Honda cars are flying out of dealer showrooms.

It is not just the Fit, a quirky hatchback with a four-cylinder engine, that is captivating fuel-conscious consumers. Sales of the Civic compact have risen 16 percent, and sales of the Accord, Honda’s flagship mid-sized sedan, are up 14 percent.

After posting losses of billions of dollars in the first half of this year, GM and Ford are sharply accelerating their development of new small smart cars that better suit consumers worried about high gas prices.

Even Toyota, Honda’s much larger Japanese rival, is cutting back on production of pickups and large sport utility vehicles and hustling to bring more of its passenger cars to the United States market.

Honda’s laser-sharp focus on fuel-efficient cars dates back 20 years, and reflects its heritage as an engineering-driven company.Honda’s approach seems almost clairvoyant, given how the American market shifted so drastically away from larger vehicles this spring.

Last year, Toyota opened its newest North American plant in Texas to produce full-size pickups. By contrast, Honda will open its latest American plant this fall in Indiana to build Civics.

No vehicle better illustrates Honda’s grasp of the current market conditions than the Fit.
In fact, Honda was running so short of Fits in the United States that it accelerated the launch of the new 2009 model by two months. Honda’s commitment to fuel efficiency is also reflected in its plans for the future. While it sells hybrid, gas-electric versions of its luxurious cars -Civic and Accord, Honda will bring out two new hybrids in the next 18 months, including a sporty two-seat model.