Moment of Silence. . . Honda to Halt Prelude. . .
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Moment of Silence. . . Honda to Halt Prelude. . .
Hi Everyone,
I was reading USA TODAY this morning and saw this on the cover of their "Money" section. . .
Its a sad day indeed
Here's the article:
Honda to halt Prelude; hybrid Civic planned
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
Honda plans to kill its high-performance Prelude sports coupe next year after 23 years as the sportiest Honda. In a separate development, it plans to begin selling gasoline-electric hybrid-power Civic sedans in the USA about next March, hoping to triple U.S. sales of fuel-efficient hybrid cars.
Honda also gets a version of the Acura MDX sport-utility vehicle "soon," says Honda's U.S. sales chief, Executive Vice President Dick Colliver, but he wouldn't say just when. Acura is Honda's luxury brand.
The moves are dramatic signs of the times. Automakers are exploiting complaints about high fuel prices, counting on a continuing truck boom, and simultaneously dumping impractical and unpopular models, even those with considerable heritage.
Though a darling of auto enthusiasts for its powerful engine and crisp handling, sales of the $24,000-$27,000 Prelude are a trickle. It was outsold last month by the $21,000 Honda Insight, a two-seat gas-electric hybrid considered a niche model. Ford Mustang, the most popular sporty coupe, starts at $17,000 and outsells Prelude 12-to-1.
The coupe market "is very competitive. (Prelude is) built in Japan, and we haven't been able to get the cost down," Colliver said. Building in the USA instead of in Japan avoids losses from unexpected swings in the dollar-yen relationship, and saves the costs of the 2-week ship trip across the Pacific Ocean.
He said Honda will introduce another coupe, "a completely different design," as a 2003 model. It is expected to slot between today's Prelude and the mainstream Honda Accord coupe in size, price and image.
Honda isn't alone in pulling the plug on venerable models. General Motors plans to discontinue slow-selling Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird and Cadillac Eldorado coupes.
Colliver told USA TODAY on Monday that he hopes to sell at least 12,000 hybrid Civics a year, in addition to 5,000 hybrid Insights. "Civic comes right out of the chute with a bigger engine, automatic transmission," he said, referring to the low power and manual transmission that hampered early sales of the Insight. Insight now offers automatic, at the expense of fuel economy. It is down to 57 miles per gallon in town, 56 mpg on the highway, vs. 61/68 mpg for the manual model. Colliver said no price has been set for the hybrid Civic.
Gasoline at $2 a gallon many places has renewed motorists' interest in fuel economy and helped spur Insight sales last month to double their normal level.
Rival Toyota's Prius four-door hybrid sedan is rated 52/45 mpg, priced about $21,000 and outsells Insight more than 2-1. Toyota says it will sell a hybrid minivan here, but hasn't said when, or at what price.
I was reading USA TODAY this morning and saw this on the cover of their "Money" section. . .
Its a sad day indeed
Here's the article:
Honda to halt Prelude; hybrid Civic planned
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
Honda plans to kill its high-performance Prelude sports coupe next year after 23 years as the sportiest Honda. In a separate development, it plans to begin selling gasoline-electric hybrid-power Civic sedans in the USA about next March, hoping to triple U.S. sales of fuel-efficient hybrid cars.
Honda also gets a version of the Acura MDX sport-utility vehicle "soon," says Honda's U.S. sales chief, Executive Vice President Dick Colliver, but he wouldn't say just when. Acura is Honda's luxury brand.
The moves are dramatic signs of the times. Automakers are exploiting complaints about high fuel prices, counting on a continuing truck boom, and simultaneously dumping impractical and unpopular models, even those with considerable heritage.
Though a darling of auto enthusiasts for its powerful engine and crisp handling, sales of the $24,000-$27,000 Prelude are a trickle. It was outsold last month by the $21,000 Honda Insight, a two-seat gas-electric hybrid considered a niche model. Ford Mustang, the most popular sporty coupe, starts at $17,000 and outsells Prelude 12-to-1.
The coupe market "is very competitive. (Prelude is) built in Japan, and we haven't been able to get the cost down," Colliver said. Building in the USA instead of in Japan avoids losses from unexpected swings in the dollar-yen relationship, and saves the costs of the 2-week ship trip across the Pacific Ocean.
He said Honda will introduce another coupe, "a completely different design," as a 2003 model. It is expected to slot between today's Prelude and the mainstream Honda Accord coupe in size, price and image.
Honda isn't alone in pulling the plug on venerable models. General Motors plans to discontinue slow-selling Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird and Cadillac Eldorado coupes.
Colliver told USA TODAY on Monday that he hopes to sell at least 12,000 hybrid Civics a year, in addition to 5,000 hybrid Insights. "Civic comes right out of the chute with a bigger engine, automatic transmission," he said, referring to the low power and manual transmission that hampered early sales of the Insight. Insight now offers automatic, at the expense of fuel economy. It is down to 57 miles per gallon in town, 56 mpg on the highway, vs. 61/68 mpg for the manual model. Colliver said no price has been set for the hybrid Civic.
Gasoline at $2 a gallon many places has renewed motorists' interest in fuel economy and helped spur Insight sales last month to double their normal level.
Rival Toyota's Prius four-door hybrid sedan is rated 52/45 mpg, priced about $21,000 and outsells Insight more than 2-1. Toyota says it will sell a hybrid minivan here, but hasn't said when, or at what price.
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The Prelude enthusiast community has known about the Prelude being dropped out of the line up for a long time now. Unfortuneately, I agree with the Honda bean counters on why to drop the Lude....I hate that it is being dropped though.
However, this opens the possibility of a complete re-design and re-introduction of the Lude 5-10 years down the road...think Nissan Z.
I can just see it now, the Prelude being offered in a Targa model 10 years from now with outrageous perfomance numbers, the "S" car line-up is dying because Honda has turned it into a big luxo-sports convertible and are asking WAY too much money for it....and people like me buy the car for the heritage and the fact that it reminds me of my first new car....a 4th gen Prelude.
On a lighter note....I'm glad that Honda is putting more into the hybrid line-up. I'm actually awaiting the Civic HB Hybrid, good performance numbers for the daily drive, saves on gas, saves on the environment, saves on noise pollution, saves on air pollution, practical for hauling the dogs and kids, and somewhat sporty lines for aesthetics.
However, this opens the possibility of a complete re-design and re-introduction of the Lude 5-10 years down the road...think Nissan Z.
I can just see it now, the Prelude being offered in a Targa model 10 years from now with outrageous perfomance numbers, the "S" car line-up is dying because Honda has turned it into a big luxo-sports convertible and are asking WAY too much money for it....and people like me buy the car for the heritage and the fact that it reminds me of my first new car....a 4th gen Prelude.
On a lighter note....I'm glad that Honda is putting more into the hybrid line-up. I'm actually awaiting the Civic HB Hybrid, good performance numbers for the daily drive, saves on gas, saves on the environment, saves on noise pollution, saves on air pollution, practical for hauling the dogs and kids, and somewhat sporty lines for aesthetics.
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The Prelude has been a very confused car for a number of years.
It was too expensive for people's first cars. It didn't have the performance gains to justify the price over a Teg. It was in the middle of markets. It was only a matter of time and like Luder mentioned, it was known for quite awhile that it would go away with the intro of the RSX.
It was too expensive for people's first cars. It didn't have the performance gains to justify the price over a Teg. It was in the middle of markets. It was only a matter of time and like Luder mentioned, it was known for quite awhile that it would go away with the intro of the RSX.
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As with most people on this board (and Prelude enthusiasts everywhere), I've known that the Prelude was going to be dropped for a while. . . But like most, I was still hoping against it. . .
The reality is that the Prelude has always been Honda's most technologically new/advanced vehicle. . . The Prelude was known as the Honda with the latest (yet not always greatest, remember 4WS) technology. . .
I will definitely miss it and I'm equally glad that I still have mine
The only up side is that now, when I decide to replace it as my daily driver, I'll have no choice but to get a new NSX ('03/'04)
The reality is that the Prelude has always been Honda's most technologically new/advanced vehicle. . . The Prelude was known as the Honda with the latest (yet not always greatest, remember 4WS) technology. . .
I will definitely miss it and I'm equally glad that I still have mine
The only up side is that now, when I decide to replace it as my daily driver, I'll have no choice but to get a new NSX ('03/'04)
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From: Bergen County
Luder,
My bad. . . I wasn't dissing the 4WS, I was mearly trying to point out that the Prelude has always been Honda's flagship for innovation. . . Personally, I thought the concept of 4WS was great, though my Si doesn't have it. . . However, I do believe (after driving a 4WS Prelude and a SH back to back) that the ATS works better than the 4WS. . .
Regardless, I'm glad I still have mine (I'm sure you are too) and I'm pretty dissapointed that Honda is walking away from one of its most well-designed/engineered, best performing vehicles ever. . .
My bad. . . I wasn't dissing the 4WS, I was mearly trying to point out that the Prelude has always been Honda's flagship for innovation. . . Personally, I thought the concept of 4WS was great, though my Si doesn't have it. . . However, I do believe (after driving a 4WS Prelude and a SH back to back) that the ATS works better than the 4WS. . .
Regardless, I'm glad I still have mine (I'm sure you are too) and I'm pretty dissapointed that Honda is walking away from one of its most well-designed/engineered, best performing vehicles ever. . .
