Honda Cars : CTV: Honda arms the Civic for the small car wars | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Jeremy Cato, Autos.CTV.ca

Date: Friday Apr. 15, 2011 6:35 AM ET

How important is the Civic compact to Honda Canada? Beyond measure.

The Civic is at the centre of the company's lineup -- more critical than the Accord midsize sedan and vastly more central to everything that is Honda.

Forget about the other niche models Honda sells in Canada, from the CR-Z hybrid to the Accord Crosstour crossover. There is nothing niche about the Civic and that's why next week's launch of the all-new 2012 Civic means the world to Honda.

Consider: The Civic has been Canada's best-selling passenger car for 13 years running. Honda has sold some 1.6 million Civics in Canada and built 3.6 million and counting at its Alliston, Ontario plant. The Civic is at the core of Honda.

It is also Honda's second-best-selling car in the U.S. after the Accord and was the fourth-best-selling car overall in 2010. The Civic franchise is critical for Honda, which in turn depends on the North American market for more of its overall sales and profits than any other Japanese auto maker.

So if you want to check the pulse of Japan's No. 3 auto maker, take the temperature of Civic sales. And according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, the patient is under the weather. Civic sales were down 8.2 per cent (to 57,505) in 2010. Not surprisingly, Honda brand sales overall were down in 2010, a year in which the Honda brand lost fully half a point of market share.

The story only gets more serious for Honda in 2011. In March, sales of compact cars accounted for 54.4 per cent of all passenger car sales. The Civic's share of all that, however, shrank -- arguably in the face of intense competition, not to mention Honda's own supply and production problems resulting from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

Now put aside for the moment the current crisis in Japan and how it's having an impact on Honda and other Japanese car companies. Instead, consider Honda's specific dilemma with the Civic as an automobile.

The core Honda model has never been more important, not since 1973 when the first Civic arrived. Moreover, the ninth generation Civic has never faced such competition -- from the all-new Hyundai Elantra, to the all-new Ford Focus to the all-new Chevrolet Cruze and more.

Meanwhile, the Civic's core buyers remain baby boomers who are loyal but aging. Honda desperately has been trying and failing to attract the under-35 crowd which has been shopping Mazdas and Kias and Hyundais and other brands. That needs to change.

Now you have the picture. In the run-up to next week's on-sale date, Honda has come out swinging, defending its Civic turf and claiming it will conquer new ground with the new Civic.

Honda has said the fuel economy of the latest Civic would be brilliant, though the company has declined to provide details on the actual fuel economy, as well as engine size, weight, interior features or suggested price.

Company officials have promised the new Civic will be more comfortable, lighter, cheaper, smarter, highly entertaining to drive, ultra-safe, incredibly reliable and more fuel efficient than the current generation, too. Sounds like the perfect car.

Making such bold claims has put added pressure on for Honda to hit the bull's-eye, especially given the company delayed the new model by a year to help save cash during the recession. That may have been a serious mistake.

The delay allowed Honda's rivals to launch their own Civic competitors before the new Civic had a chance to hit showrooms. The Cruze, Elantra and Focus all are on sale right now. Meanwhile, Toyota did a facelift of the Corolla and tweaked pricing to stay competitive.

If Honda had launched the Civic on schedule, it would have arrived fully a year before the competition had a chance to redefine the compact car game. In particular, the new entries from Detroit's auto makers pose an entirely new threat.

For decades, Japanese-brand car companies "had the corner on the small-car market. The domestic offerings were not at the same level, did not provide the same quality, value, reliability," says Rebecca Lindland, auto-industry specialist at consultant IHS Global Insight.

"That's changed a lot. We're seeing products coming out" of General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler Group "that are incredibly competitive. For example, Chevy Cruze and Ford Focus."

Thus, Honda and Toyota find themselves in the thick of an intense small-car war like never before. Perennial laggards Chevy, Ford and Hyundai have vastly improved new compacts on offer and they are getting plenty of attention.

That said, no one with any sense should underestimate Honda.

"They are still a very, very good engine company," Lindland says, adding that Honda vehicles also have a justified reputation for refinement and reliability.

What's been missing over at least the last decade of the Civic is a truly innovative Civic. At this critical juncture Honda will be watched carefully to see if the new one is an innovative, ground-breaking, segment-busting compact, or just another "safe" Civic like the previous generation and the several before it.

The eyes of the automotive world are on Honda for next week's Civic launch. Will Honda get it right?

Source;
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Autos/20110414/honda-canada-civic-jeremy-cato-autos-column-110415/