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DrWhiner
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Matrix replacement? Don't look at Auris
Any plans, then, to parlay it into a next-generation Matrix?
No, says Hiroya Fujita, chief engineer of the Auris as well as the Japan-spec Corolla, which has a different platform from both the Auris/European Corolla and the U.S. Corolla.
At a recent Auris test drive near Mount Fuji, Fujita shot down any notion that his car would be sent stateside as the next Matrix. The reason: U.S. demand for hatchbacks is too weak.
He declined to comment on what might replace the Matrix, if it isn't the Auris. Perhaps that's a sign that the Matrix will simply die. [...]
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20120914/BLOG06/120919905#ixzz27kJ6Qq5i
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Inebriated Snake
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That complete BS and they know it. There's probably some other logistical issue that they don't want to admit like importation costs or that its built to sell at a different price and standard than the Matrix.
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jshaw
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I was going to post about how ToV'ers were reflexively going to call BS on that, but seems like I was beaten to the punch.
I dunno, I personally don't like most hatchbacks (only acceptable one in my view: previous gen subaru imprezza hatch), and saying a hatchback is good, ONLY because the sedan version of a car is hideous, isn't going to get anywhere useful, either (case in point: Ford Focus).
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CivicB18
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I know the hatch market here in the U.S. is much mallet vs Europe and other regions but I think it all boils down to execution. I see tons of Mazda3 hatches here as well as Focus hatches. There is a market but one has to get it right for it to be a success.
~Patrick
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MasterOfDaDomain
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Too bad, hopefully others continue with hatchback. We can always depend on the Golf.
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DCR
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I thought the Prius was a hatchback...I have never actually driven one, so I guess it might not be.
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Bullwinkle
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Hatchbacks don't sell because US car marketers are gutless.
The only Hatchbacks that DO sell are cars that are ONLY hatchbacks (Mazda as an example).
If the present Civic SI was ONLY a HB, I am sure it would do just fine. But if you give americans a choice, for some reason they pick trunks.
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xBeastx
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Bullwinkle wrote:
If the present Civic SI was ONLY a HB, I am sure it would do just fine. But if you give americans a choice, for some reason they pick trunks.
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I know! Why do some,which happens to be most, Americans prefer a tiny trunk/boot over the practicality of the hatchback version?
Take a look at the Prius. Americans don't mind that hatchback at all, and all sizes of it (c, regular, V) sell very well. I'm sure if Honda only offered the Civic Hatch/Wagon here instead of the sedan and coupe, it would sell just as well.
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Inebriated Snake
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What urks me, is that elsewhere in the world there's a Honda for everybody. (Except a pure sports car.)
On Honda's JP website I counted about 22 different vehicles minus some variants. Twice as many as US. If they can figure out how to sell that many cars just fine in a smaller market; they can work out how to sell a C-segment hatch/wagon here. I'm probably way off base, but I'm starting to think the US vanilla operations subsidizes most of JP's fun. (Their Fit has AWD!?!) Or perhaps its the closed insular nature of the Japanese market that allows this.
If MY Honda was here, I'd be driving it now. Cars are huge expense, so why compromise?
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Chocs
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Inebriated Snake wrote:
What urks me, is that elsewhere in the world there's a Honda for everybody. (Except a pure sports car.)
On Honda's JP website I counted about 22 different vehicles minus some variants. Twice as many as US. If they can figure out how to sell that many cars just fine in a smaller market; they can work out how to sell a C-segment hatch/wagon here. I'm probably way off base, but I'm starting to think the US vanilla operations subsidizes most of JP's fun. (Their Fit has AWD!?!) Or perhaps its the closed insular nature of the Japanese market that allows this.
If MY Honda was here, I'd be driving it now. Cars are huge expense, so why compromise?
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xBeastx
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Chocs wrote:
Inebriated Snake wrote:
What urks me, is that elsewhere in the world there's a Honda for everybody. (Except a pure sports car.)
On Honda's JP website I counted about 22 different vehicles minus some variants. Twice as many as US. If they can figure out how to sell that many cars just fine in a smaller market; they can work out how to sell a C-segment hatch/wagon here. I'm probably way off base, but I'm starting to think the US vanilla operations subsidizes most of JP's fun. (Their Fit has AWD!?!) Or perhaps its the closed insular nature of the Japanese market that allows this.
If MY Honda was here, I'd be driving it now. Cars are huge expense, so why compromise?
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That actually seems like a smart idea. That way you feel as though the car was made especially for you. Also eliminates the possibly of producing a weird baby of the group that no one buys.
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Atomic Frog
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Yes, good call. It's BS.
I pulled out some sales numbers for US+Canada (someone can verify)
2012 YTD (August)
Golf 38554
Accent 64905
Fit 37116
Not sure about the Matrix, it's a bit of a s**t car (yes, I've driven one and used it).
But if hatches don't have a market, then you might as well not sell:
Insight, CR-Z Crosstour, Ridgeline, TL, TSX, ILX, RL, MDX, ZDX, RDX
as any one of those listed above outsells those Honda/Acura models.
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jshaw
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Atomic Frog wrote:
Yes, good call. It's BS.
I pulled out some sales numbers for US+Canada (someone can verify)
2012 YTD (August)
Golf 38554
Accent 64905
Fit 37116
Not sure about the Matrix, it's a bit of a s**t car (yes, I've driven one and used it).
But if hatches don't have a market, then you might as well not sell:
Insight, CR-Z Crosstour, Ridgeline, TL, TSX, ILX, RL, MDX, ZDX, RDX
as any one of those listed above outsells those Honda/Acura models.
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Either of those 4 cars (Fit, Accent, Golf, and Matrix) are cheaper than...
Insight, CR-Z Crosstour, Ridgeline, TL, TSX, ILX, RL, MDX, ZDX, RDX
Heck, even some of them maxed all the way out are cheaper than the base models of these, "below sales expectation Hondas."
It's like wondering why the Camry outsells the Lexus ES, despite one being a variant of the other (and now a stretched variant), :D
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auto_enthu
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hatchback demand weak??
Then why is prius such a successful car?
People barely bought prius when it was a sedan. It was hugely successful only after it was redesigned as a hatchback.
If toyota thinks hatchbacks won't sell well, it should convert prius back to sedan and see which way the sales will go.
There are always good number of buyers for good hatchbacks.
Besides prius, I see tonnes of mazda 3 hatches and Fits where I live.
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mobis21
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auto_enthu wrote:
hatchback demand weak??
Then why is prius such a successful car?
People barely bought prius when it was a sedan. It was hugely successful only after it was redesigned as a hatchback.
If toyota thinks hatchbacks won't sell well, it should convert prius back to sedan and see which way the sales will go.
There are always good number of buyers for good hatchbacks.
Besides prius, I see tonnes of mazda 3 hatches and Fits where I live.
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That's what I was thinking. The Prius is one of the top selling vehicles in the USA. Prius, Prius C, Prius V. Plus other hatches. Scion tC, Scion xD, Toyota Yaris, Scion iQ
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