Honda SUT

[rollazn]

Originally posted by BlazinXtreme
Still the forgien market will never be able to compete with trucks, they may be able to do it with cars but never trucks. You can hold me to that.

How do you guys feel about Toyota's Trucks. Toyota are the only japanese trucks i see around my place. I know alot of other Japanese manufactor make trucks but seems like Toyota is the only japanese manufactor people would buy trucks from. I rarely see any other japanese trucks beside a few old mazda trucks.

 

[Joey D]

I see one in a great while, but I'm in Detroit, the place where you are lynched for driving a JApanese auto

 

[skip0110]

Originally posted by M5Power
Americans will never buy such a vehicle from a company like Honda.

I think that in time, Americans WILL be willing to buy big trucks from Japanese manufacturers. Just think, in the early 90's the idea of a Japanese luxury brand was crazy! But in less than 10 years, Lexus (and Acura, Infiniti to a lesser extent) have catapulted to the front of the luxury car market, competing sucessfully with Jaguar, BMW, etc. The Tundra recived a new, bigger frame this year, and Honda should get in the fray.

Nissan's Titan is in a completely different class from the small Honda truck, which is set to compete with the Ford Ranger/Chevrolet Colorado/Toyota Tacoma, none of which have V8s. So why should Honda, especially when they won't get any respect for it? The only V8 Honda should have is in the next-generation RL sedan... and they won't.

Honda was late to the party in putting a v6 in the Accord, and they lost sales there. The RL has needed a RWD v8 platform for at leat 5 years. Now, they will lose more sales by applying Japanese logic to the American market. That's their choice, probably because America is not their primary market.

 

[skip0110]

Originally posted by rollazn
I rarely see any other japanese trucks beside a few old mazda trucks.

Mazda trucks are just rebadged Ford Rangers, so IMO they are crap.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by skip0110
I think that in time, Americans WILL be willing to buy big trucks from Japanese manufacturers.

I'd make a sizeable bet that Honda won't ever put out a gas-only full-size truck.

Just think, in the early 90's the idea of a Japanese luxury brand was crazy!

To me, it wasn't - and it's a completely different ballgame. Large trucks are the backbone of the domestic auto industry. Year-to-year, the Ford F150 sold triple what Lexus (all of it) sold, and Lexus is the largest luxury brand in North America. The big three trucks combined sold about ten times Lexus's sales. Brand loyalty is king here, meaning new brands have impossible times trying to enter the market, particularly, in this case, in rural environments, which Honda has never focused on.

Now, they will lose more sales by applying Japanese logic to the American market.

Why would that happen?

That's their choice, probably because America is not their primary market.

America's the primary market of Honda North America which develops cars solely for America.

 

[neanderthal]

Originally posted by BlazinXtreme
And what gets me is that Honda thinks they can compete in the American truck market. With the f-150 and Silverado owning sales with full size sales and the Dakota and Ranger doing well with the small trucks. I just don't think that Japanese and European trucks can make it over here and I really don't see a need for a truck in Japan.

this is the exact attitude that got the japanese automakers to where they are right now. the simpleminded belief that just because a vehicle comes from a different country must mean its inferior, is what will get the american car industry in deep **** if they disregard the new entry from nissan and the forthcoming one from totyota. already the nissan has class leading standard horsepower and torque. an innovative bed with creative solutions that the big three never sought to implement. the honda just takes this in a different direction; making the truck more of a people carrier than a hauler. which dovetails nicely with how most trucks are used today anyway.


thats what they said when japanese imports first started to trickle in. when the Z was introduced in 1969. when lexus and acura were created in the late eighties.

since the large truck market is the bread and butter of the big threes profits, they need to be very very careful about what attitude they are going to have. if they continue to display this nonchalance, the big three will become dinosaurs. especially ford who are most reliant on truck sales since their car lineup is pathetically weak.

all i can say is that its a good sign that the domestics were showing so many cars at this years auto shows. thier days of having the large truck market ( and the resultant easy profits) all to themselves are over. compounding this is the fact that the japanese have lower labor costs and are more efficient at the manufacturing and design stages, which reduces costs considerably, possibly resulting in larger profits (if they price the same as domestics) or lower prices (than the domestics and therefore much higher sales with less use of rebates as nissan is already doing with the titan. thats an easy way to gain market share.)

 

[Danny]

I like it.