VTEC_Junkie

the automotive world does not NEED another honda fwd coupe. honda already has the new civic si for those lower budgeted 4-banger lovers and the accord v6 coupe for those looking for a torquier motor and more luxurious refinements. what honda can benefit from doing is offering a sport tuned version of the accord v6 coupe with stiffer and lower shocks/springs, thicker rollbars, beefier brakes, lsd, 20 more HP, and cosmetic enhancements inside and out, and sell it as a type S model. if honda is gonna introduce any new coupe, they need to focus on making a rwd or awd one.

Christople

Yes, no more FWD sporty cars please honda. You already have the Civic/Integra/TL/TSX/Accord Coupe.


Please make something AWD of RWD. Build your factories to make V8's if you really want to cause shock to the automotive industry.

In fact make a V8 hybrid truck to set it off that every car can be green.

Take that V8 and stick it into your sports car too to show off what it's capable of.

TwiBlueG35

The Big three Japanese car companies(Toyota, Nissan, Honda) really need to do more on their performance image. Mazda is doing better than they do currently in my opinion. Let's take a look, Mazda has eight models(3, 5, 6, RX-8, MX-5, MPV, Tribute, and Truck), and two of them are pure sport cars. Toyota/Lexus/Scion has more than twenty models, but none, i mean none, is a pure sport car. Scion tC isn't, Lexus IS isn't, and MR2 Spyder is gone. Honda/Acura has fourteen models(if consider sedan and coupe as one for Accord and Civic), but only one car - S2000, is considered pure sport car, and NSX is almost gone(plus, it is kind of an exotic anyway). Nissan has more models than Honda does, but only one car - 350Z is considered pure sport car. Even Mitsubishi and Subaru has at least one pure sport car each. Japanese make the best compact easy to afford sports car, but they have been evading this niche market for many years. Now, they have the money and technologies to make even better sport car, why don't they do it? Especially Toyota, do they just want every single one model in its lineup to be well-sold? One or two out of twenty something models that are losing money but help creating sporty image is not that bad is it? I am not asking for many, just two pure sport cars from Toyota Motor Group, please. One costing twenty to mid-thirty thousands dollars, and one in the eighty thousand dollars range. I know GTR is coming, but for god sake I still haven't seen a real thing as of now, and it has been how many years since they began talking about this car? Come on it is a car, not a spaceship or Boeing airplane, they need what? Seven years or so to produce such a car, from NISSAN? And they only need so little time to make hot-selling SUVs, haha......Honda isn't as bad, at least it has the heart-racing S2k, it is basically enough, just that this car has been around for several years, should be time to upgrade. Plus, even it doesn't have another pure sports, it is having Civic Si and RSX Type S, they are nice looking and easy-to-afford.

UnkieTrunkie

Purple_sky

No, they need to produce more sports cars. As for their images, they've already established enough. They already have an image of quality and reliability. As for image for performance, they're already involved in plenty of racing sports. For example, in IRL, Honda and Toyota keep dominating the whole thing. In the motorcycle world, Honda is also the leader is racing. Now, all they need to do is to produce more sports cars. They are too successful in the non-sports car market already.

Lice Locket

They don't need to produce any more sports cars, because nobody's gonna buy them! Toyota, which is really likely to take over the top spot from GM, doesn't even have a sports car! (Successful) companies are only gonna make cars that people need, not what people want. So, it doesn't matter if Honda or Toyota or NIssan can make a very kickass sports car, if nobody's gonna buy it (especially with gas prices) then they'll lose money.

I mean, I too wish Honda would make more sports cars. But, we "enthusiasts" don't make up the majority who actually buy their cars. They're already losing a lot of money to make the S2000 (and formerly, the NSX) to satisfy the very limited enthusiasts niche.

VTEC_Junkie

mazda is emphasizing on sportier cars cuz they really can't compete successfully producing the same type of cars that honda and toyota do. also, it's nonsense that successful companies like honda, toyota, etc, should divert a portion of their resources to producing low to no profit sportscars because those companies are first and foremost businesses, and their goal is to make decisions that make the most business sense. having a sportscar in their line up does not necessarily make the company more successful overall. toyota has definitely tried it with the mr2 and supra, but apparently comsumers do not care much for them, plus even after those sportscars are removed from the lineup, overall profit does not seem to have gone down. and as for $50K+ sportscars from these companies, forget it!! once a sportscar reaches this price range, consumers are generally more willing to spend that money on a porsche than a honda/toyota. each car company is generally successful competing in a certain niche. once they deviate from that niche, their chances of success greatly diminishes.

nalVle

i disagree. if toyota came out with a supra, or similar replacement, at around 35k, i think it would clean up; ESPECIALLY if it had a factory-turboed powerplant. sports cars usually dont have trouble selling because people who want them will buy them. for example, how many s2000 commercials have you seen? probably none (excluding the Ridgeline commercial). why? because honda knows that people will buy the s2000 even though its not being advertised. you even said it yourself, "toyota has no sports car", which is why they NEED one. it would put them back on the (sports car) map more-so like they were in the mid 90s with the MR2-T and the Supra. and people arent gonna stop buying sports cars just because of gas prices; if you can afford a $35k+ car, then you can afford $3.45/gallon for gas. lastly, its true that enthusiasts dont make up the majority, however, thats what toyota's other 12 cars are for. they need a sports car.
-Chris

VTEC_Junkie

^ no they don't. you as an enthusiast WANT them to have one, but it really doesn't benefit them from a business standpoint. put it this way, if it was your money, and you have the option to invest your money in A which would yield an A% return, or B which would yield a B% return with A% > B%, and assuming investing in either A or B does not affect the outcome of the rest of your investments much, if any, then from a business standpoint which would be a better investment?? the bottom line is that if producing and selling low profit sportscars does not help to boost the sale of the rest of the lineup, then that money is better invested in something that would yield a higher return. as for sportscars selling themselves without advertisement, the reality is that most japanese sportscars in recent history (the past 20 years) sell well their first year, and for the remainder of its years in production, the sales volume continuously plummets. mr2s, supras, 300zxs, rx7s, etc were sitting in the showroom for too long before someone comes along to buy them and when they do, they are usually sold at discounts. this is the reason they were discontinued. even today, you can walk into virtually any honda, or nissan dealer and they will have s2ks and 350Zs that's been sitting there for weeks. imo, car consumers today want a car that serves multiple purposes. this is why sports sedans and sports coupes or even sports wagons are so much more popular than sports cars, cuz consumers want arelatively great performing car that's fun to drive, relatively practical, and relatively comfortable. sportscars are only great performing and fun to drive. that is why the market for such cars are lesser than that for sports coupes, sedans, and wagons.

slicksilver

Have you ever thought that perhaps Toyota isn't good at making sports cars. Their sports cars have never garnered much respect, and most have been less than successful. It's one thing to make a boring but reliable Camry and quite another to make a 911.

Toyota is good at making appliances that transport people from A to B. They are bad at making cars that evoke passion.