Well this certainly doesn't bode well...
(from Green Car Congress)



Chicago Tribune. Honda has been offering a $1,200 incentive to its dealers on each sale of an Accord Hybrid—the first hybrid car to receive such financial support from the manufacturer.

The offers are scheduled to end 5 Dec. Dealers can pass any or all of that money along to the consumer. The 2006 Accord Hybrid will go on sale around 1 Dec with new front and rear styling changes.

Sales of the Accord Hybrid dipped to 1,266 in October, down from 2,336 in August and 2,352 in September. Honda had targeted 20,000 units sold for all of 2005, and is currently tracking slightly above 15,000 through October.

Honda designed the Accord hybrid (earlier post) with performance more in mind than fuel economy. While the EPA rates the Prius at 55 mpg US, and the Civic Hybrid at 50 mpg, the Accord hybrid offers only 32 mpg.


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After convincing untold #s of folks that YES my Accord IS hybrid, I've come to the conclusion that this was inevitable. Honda is barking up the wrong marketing tree here with the low-key HAH marketing to date.

Instead of pushing the power side, they should realize who the core Accord customer is- a regular family that wants a nice, comfy car and something bigger than the car they drove in college. Dad may like a V6 or 15 more HP, but isn't going to decide solely on that.

The Accord is not for people who want super-duper anything. They want a good car, period. Don't try to cram the hybrid version into the civic/prius hybrid space, or into the 'luxurious performance sedan' space. That's why its not selling well- nobody knows what to compare it against, so they default to comparing vs the smaller hybrids. Then it doesn't look so hot, especially for $10k more. Shoot for the existing Accord type of person who 'just wishes I could get a little better mpg.' That's probably most of 'em.

A Honda ad for the HAH SHOULD go something like this:
"...exactly what you expect- an Accord in every way- the bedrock of the midsize family sedan segment. Oh, by the way, it gets better mpg than any other midsize family sedan you can buy, with a tax credit to boot."

(Good thing the Prius is a hatch)

Many people love their smaller, more efficient cars. But the Accord is one of Honda's golden geese and its not a compact. They need to flaunt that, and appeal to the legions of buyers who want better mpg, but not a smaller car. They have done a horrible job by 1) barely marketing it at all, and 2) marketing it as a faster, more powerful Accord. Most of those who buy Accords don't care so much for power- look at how many V6 you see compared to the 4cyl versions. I love my V6, but most Accords out there are the base 4cylinder.

The hybridized 4cyl Accord, properly marketed to the target population, would be a category killer. Well, all they got is the V6 for now; they need to push that for all its worth. Although I liked that it only came in the top trim, they NEED to diversify the options to drop that base price!

 

So basically it's as fast as a HEMI, but with 40% better fuel economy, yet the Chicago Tribune wants to declare it inferior because it doesn't get as good fuel economy as two hybrids that have less than half as much power.

 

Hi AZCivic:

___Personally, I could care less what the Chicago Trib thinks. I do however care that the AH is a very expensive hybrid automobile. I am seeing more in the Chicago area which is a good thing vs. the V6’s those same individuals could have purchased (who knows why?) but every time I hop in the PZEV, I do shake my head

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

The HH is back to the pre-katrina price of $31788 at the Carmax in MD-this is $2000 off MSRP(they have 15 or more-Laurel,MD).There are also 3 on special at Carson Toyota(big CA online dealer).The prices at Carson are "call for" which is usually not a great sign good price wise,but it does indicate that the talk of "waiting list 6 months long" is dealer BS.Charlie

 

And its 100% Honda's fault for not framing the HAH in the proper perspective / proper market segment. In the absense of such direction, the few who know of the HAH end up comparing it to the Civic or Prius on mpg alone, and the HAH loses every time.

I'm not even taking the screwup over the lack of an I4 HAH into account- they could still do much better (sales # wise) with the existing vehicle had it been presented properly. But I am purely armchairing here, not being an ad guy. Honda likes to take longer term views of things, so for now I'll place some faith in their strategy. For now.

 

Although not an apples to apples comparison, this is really sad, given the fact that Toyota just announced the Prius is selling so fast they have had to suspend fleet sales until they can further ramp up production...

 

Wait until the 4-cylinder Camry Hybrid hits the showrooms. That puppy, if done correctly the way Toyota is indicating it will be done, will be FLYING off the lots !!!

 

yessir it will.

 

Living here in Phoenix, I've seen less than 10 HAHs. On the other hand, I see the Prius everywhere!! For some reason, the old farts up in Sun City (and it's other two companion cities) really love that car! I see more of them per hour up there than anywhere else I've driven.

For those that don't know: Sun City, Sun City West, and Sun City Grand are retirement communities. They're their own cities. They only allow ages 55+ to live there. There are even rules as to how long your grandchildren are allowed to visit with you!! Plus, they're the only cities where driving a golf cart on the city streets is legal. You see them everywhere up there. A lot of the "retired" crowd tend to lose their driver's license due to health, age, whatever... and get a golf cart so they can still drive. So, take into account all the cars on the road, add in a few hundred golf carts that are zig zagging through the cars (a lot of them not even licensed to drive an automobile), and you have quite a mess! But anyways, I digress...

I see quite a few HCHs, but not nearly as many as the Prius' I see. I've yet to see an SUV hybrid. Not even the FEH! I only know one person that owns a hybrid. That's a co-worker of mine. After seeing my HAH, he went out and bought an HCH within two weeks.

Also, I've seen four '06 Accords. I don't like the looks of them. I really like the rear end of the '05 better. The front didn't change much. Bigger grille chrome pieces, to include the Honda "H." And a projector look headlights. I believe those are the daytime running lamps.

I've also seen a few '06 Civics. I still think they look like Saturns, but they're growing on me.

 

Bar10dah, I personally like that I don't see that many HAH's on the road. Call me selfish, but when I start to too many of something, I tend to lose interest and no longer want it. I work in West Los Angeles, where the trendiness factor is very prominent. I don't consider myself trendy and love the fact that I have one of the few HAH on the road (at least that I've seen during my daily commute). On the other hand I see a TON of Prius's on the road and it is starting to bore me. I also don't really care for the revamp on the '06 Accord. I don't like the rear but do like the daytime running lamps. And supposedly it will come with sunroof and side mirror turn signals? *sigh* But I think overall I will live. I still love my HAH, although I wouldn't mind softer seats.

And Lars-ss--do you know how many mpg the Camry Hybrid is expected to get?