Blames soft sales on lack of incentives

With Ridgeline sales starting out slower than expected, Honda Motor Co. is cutting production of the new pickup. Honda is taking 3,000 units out of its January-March production plan. The full-year target was 50,000. Honda CFO Satoshi Aoki revealed the plans to cut production during a press conference announcing Honda's earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30.


Autoweek Posted Date: October 31, 2005


WOW! Didn't see that coming at all!!!!

 

hehehe, thats less soccer mom mobiles to point and laugh at. Actually, for as long as they've been out, I've only seen one.

 

It's not lack of incentives... It's just too small.. I went to a Honda dealer with my sister-in-law when they were buying a new van and I tried to get in one, but couldn't get my head in the door.. I am only 6'1"... They make them so anyone over 5' 8" can't fit in them. That's most Americans, so no wonder few are being sold...

 

I'm slightly over 6'4" and I would have trouble loading junk over that bed. And people complained about the F150 bed being high...

 

Honda's marketing really has a lot of up hill climbing. I'm watching TV last night and a Honda commercial comes on talking about "versatility", "towing", "stength" yada yada yada and then descibed their "SUV cars" as TRUCKS!!! TRUCKS?!!? What?? Towing with a Honda truck!??! ROTFLMAO

Sheesh...they should just stick to cars. Sounds like that's what the buying public is telling them, too.

 

Best news I heard in a while. Glad to hear the american public aint the sheep to the shearing they sometimes appear to be.

 

Petersens offroad did an article titled "Honda Ridgeline... Do we really care?" in which the were going to trail test the truck, but the POS couldn't get more than 100 yards into the trail head before they had to go back. Turns out a 4 wheel independent suspension that has about 70% of the power to the front wheels is... well, worthless. I think that Honda made one mistake in modeling it after the Avalanche (can we say JUNK; hullo!!!!) and another mistake in trying to inovate in a market they know nothing about. I know from personal experience that solid axles are what you need, and IMHO the way God intended it. Oh well, not like we have to worry about that $#!+, I don't think any of us are dumb/crazy/niave enough (you pick) to drop cash or credit on a product of that caliber. BE American, BUY American. Nuf Said!

 

What did everybody expect when this thing came out? Useless.

 

I know many on here think that Consumer Reports Loves Honda, but the latest CR shows Honda with some serious tranny issues. It seems that Honda is making the same mistake that another nameless company decided to do and that is put the same engine/tranny combo in various models. That is fine if the part is bullet proof.

It seems Honda's - Minivan, SUV's (Acura MDX, Pilot), and truck all use the same exact transmission and it has a high failure rate, and that is only hauling people, not cargo, not towing, nothing special. They are learning not to put all of their eggs in one basket.

I wish that other companies would not put the same engine or tranny in all of their vehicles and then find out later that some part comes spitting out of them on a regular basis.

Tony

 

Solid axles and 50/50 4x4 are for men. Probably not their demographic. A 70% 4x4 kicks unbelievable butt on icy roads. So if you are catering to the cushy ride soccer moms who aint never gonna see the dirt. You would build something like the ridgeline.

 

Thier biggest problem....
Honda have no brand recognition in the truck market. Thier reputation with cars is impressive, but thier is little (if any) carryover to trucks (unlike SUV's)

The segment that the Honda Ridgeline is in, (what I like to refer to as) "soft truck" will see some pretty fierce competition over the next year or 2....

 

"soft truck", I LIKE THAT!

 

Well said!

I'd take a honda car over most anyday, they know how to buid them. When I went to sell my last civic for a pick-up the Honda dealer said we have a truck coming out soon and we can give you a great deal. I asked the guy if it was the Ridgeline and when he said yes I asked if it came with a rainbow air freshener. He laughed and agreed that it was a dandy of a vehicle. I wanted a Tacoma but due to a huge price difference I ended up getting a Colorado. It may be small but atleast it's not an SUV with wanna-be bed.

 

It would not be smart to count Honda out of the game as Honda is quick to learn from its past mistakes. If only Ford would do the same maybe they'd be making half the profit that Honda is rather than bending over and taking it in the pooper. And for the record, I'm not some Honda-loving hippie. I own a '99 Expy, a '74 Bronco and a '78 Bronco so my Ford truck credentials are solid. I'm just not happy to see Ford (or GM for that matter) having to give away their trucks while Honda and Toyota make ridiculous profits.

 

I don't count out Honda, either, but if they couldn't look at Toyota marketing the T-100 and Tundra as actual full-sizers and Nissan actually full-sizing it with the Titan (other than that soft rear axle...) and realizing that the Ridgeline should not be marketed as the "next truck"...look, Honda is happy making cars and car based-SUVs, so market the Ridgeline as a car with a bed.

Now, we've got kooks on Edmunds thinking all other real trucks will follow Honda's "lead"...yeah, I want to see a 1.6L I4 FWD Ranger unibody "truck".

Parts of the reason Honda and Toyota make cash these days is because their costs are waaay lower than GM's or Ford's. They are not the welfare state that GM is, for example. Sell all the vehicles you want, but if you have to move to China and close US plants and are wasteful in putting product out from drawing board to assembly to stealership lots, you get what is coming to you!