What are the JDM fanboys going to do?!?!?!?
12-23-2010, 09:26 AM
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What are the JDM fanboys going to do?!?!?!?
http://www.leftlanenews.com/honda-en...vic-model.html
In the U.S., the Honda Civic is an icon long known for its reliability and chart-topping sales. In Japan, however, a case of cannibalization to the extreme has forced Honda to stop selling its Civic nameplate in its home market.
The cause of this unbelievable move comes not from economic downturn, or the top-selling Toyota Prius, but instead from within Honda’s own doing: the Fit. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Honda has officially killed the Civic for domestic consumption, citing the strong sales of the smaller Fit as the root cause.
The Honda Fit has been nothing but a success story for Honda, particularly in Japan, where the diminutive car has racked up over 1.5 million sales to date (eclipsed in September). Astoundingly, the Civic sold just a few hundred models nationwide last month. The Fit? 14,034 sold in October.
While no automaker likes to see a model with the type of brand equity that the Civic holds be pushed out of the market, at least the model doing most of the pushing still wears a chrome “H” on the front grille.
Why did the Civic die?
It’s no surprise that American cars are typically bigger than models found in European or Asian markets, and in Japan, the driving force behind that difference was strong enough to deem even the C-segment Civic too large. When feet and inches needed to fit through crowded streets and into tiny parking spots and garages count, a B-segment Fit simply makes more sense than a C-segment Civic.
In the U.S., the Honda Civic is an icon long known for its reliability and chart-topping sales. In Japan, however, a case of cannibalization to the extreme has forced Honda to stop selling its Civic nameplate in its home market.
The cause of this unbelievable move comes not from economic downturn, or the top-selling Toyota Prius, but instead from within Honda’s own doing: the Fit. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Honda has officially killed the Civic for domestic consumption, citing the strong sales of the smaller Fit as the root cause.
The Honda Fit has been nothing but a success story for Honda, particularly in Japan, where the diminutive car has racked up over 1.5 million sales to date (eclipsed in September). Astoundingly, the Civic sold just a few hundred models nationwide last month. The Fit? 14,034 sold in October.
While no automaker likes to see a model with the type of brand equity that the Civic holds be pushed out of the market, at least the model doing most of the pushing still wears a chrome “H” on the front grille.
Why did the Civic die?
It’s no surprise that American cars are typically bigger than models found in European or Asian markets, and in Japan, the driving force behind that difference was strong enough to deem even the C-segment Civic too large. When feet and inches needed to fit through crowded streets and into tiny parking spots and garages count, a B-segment Fit simply makes more sense than a C-segment Civic.
12-23-2010, 11:11 AM
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I <3 My DSM
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Re: What are the JDM fanboys going to do?!?!?!?
12-23-2010, 11:15 AM
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