I would fall into the category of a Honda Fanboy. Used a Honda lawnmower growing up and my parents has an Odyssey that was my set of wheels come date night.

Have owned 2 civics (still have one) and now the S2K. Been shopping for baby wheels and have been focused on Pilots and CR-Vs. Pilot is too big for the wife and the CR-V doesn't have some of the features we want (power liftgate, memory seats [She is 4 '10 I am 6 '2] 3rd row, etc.) I found myself looking at Ford and am rather impressed with their line up, recent quality gains, and better business tactics than the other American Manufactures.

That being said we will most likely go with a used MDX from Acura over the Ford products.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Wife works for Honda, and between us ,our children and in-laws there are 12 Honda's

My answer is an easy one and has been since 1984

 

I said "no reason to switch", but I'm driving so little these days, I may never own another car!

 

I voted No. I see no reason to switch from my favorite brand. But in reality for me it would be No. I see no reason to switch from my favorite brands.

Honda & Nissan, and Nissan is there because Honda has no clue how to make a real truck...

 

Harry, you can bash them all you want. We all know the history. Between the 70s and 90s American car-buyers grew tired of the piss-poor quality and the excuses and went in droves to Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Like Bob Lutz, now retired GM exec, said..... The only difference between them and us is their management didn’t go to business school! I know that was tongue in cheek but it sure had a ring of truth in it! Short term profits were all that matter in their business and a lot of others.

You talk like it’s impossible for the American manufacturers to change. Have you really been watching Ford at all? Ford has to be considered to be a serious, global contender these days. And GM, for all of its woes, still has a chance thanks to the potential sales in China. Asia will remain the center of auto sales for the next 50 years.

Things can go both ways. Look at Toyota. A Japanese company that started out building exceptional levels of consistent quality - and little else – and grew into a global juggernaut. But a new breed of executives trying to make it the biggest car company in the world, became careless and supremely arrogant. And the mistakes cascaded from there.

And look at Honda, in their efforts to 'play it safe' their product lineup has become just plain boring.

 

I don't think GM will dump the Buick brand. It's a HUGE seller in China. (They sell more Buicks in China than in the US.) And the Chinese market just passed the US for most cars purchased. We will never be the number one market again.

I would consider a Ford or GM product if it had what I was looking for in a vehicle. I am thinking about a nice low mileage 05-06 GTO right now. And the new 2010 5.0 Mustang has definitely gotten my attention. It's the first Mustang I have ever lusted after.

Nothing from "the other company", thank you.

 

Dave,

I know you've said this before, and you've also said that Honda has lost it's mojo, but I'm not so sure that I agree with you.

Honda, in my opinon, has always been the smartest of the Japanese automakers. Whereas Toyota allowed itself to become intoxicated with the idea of becoming the biggest automaker in the world and in the process became just like the big 3 American automakers, Honda has always been quite aware of it's place in the market and has always focused on it. Honda has always gone its own way.

What you might be seeing and not liking (I'm not especially happy about it either) is that Honda has perceived a changing market and has adjusted its focus to remain viable in the market. Like you, I wish they'd continue to produce the kinds of automobiles that I want to buy, but it just might be that those of us who want that type of car represent a shrinking market, and Honda is aiming at the new, emerging market. It seems to me that with 3 or 4 vehicles in the top 10 seller category, they must be doing something right, and they must understand the market.

I think you will continue to see Honda with it's share of the market, as an important force in the market. Like it or don't, they will produce what the market wants to buy, even if it's not what we want to buy. In the long run, I wouldn't bet against Honda.

 

How come they are only about 25% of the market but the vast majority of the cars I see being flatbedded off of the road are American cars?

 

Honda was really into something when they had an affordable Civic that the youth market could personalize, street race, track race, whatever. And with cars like the NSX, S2000, etc. you could summarize what Honda was about with one word - "performance". You could then build on that anyway you wanted..... small car perforance, performance and quality, performance and value, etc. They have definitely pulled away from that cornerstone. I am sure they are going to be around for a long time but my quess is they will be lossing market share if they stay the course they are on now. Brand imagine is key; afterall, almost everyone makes a really decent car these days.

 

Also the new Buicks have garnered very positive press reviews. GM and Ford need to keep stepping it up.