Bruce Newton•25 Jun 2013
NEWS
Honda sweats on Euro call
Australia wants to continue its twin Accord attack, but will the rest of the world agree?Honda Australia is anxiously waiting to hear whether a third generation Accord Euro sports sedan will be green lighted.
The decision primarily rests on the wishes of the car’s important European market, although the Australian version is built in Japan and has been a success here as part of a two-pronged Accord line-up since 2003.
But things aren’t looking good, considering the second generation car arrived in June 2008 and not even a concept version of a successor has been sighted as yet.
“There is a lot of discussion about that model globally at this stage but there is no new Euro scheduled out to the end of 2014,” Honda Australia Director Stephen Collins told motoring.com.au.
“Currently we are selling Euro and Accord alongside each other and that is definitely our plan into the short and medium term, but the long term at this stage is still not clear from a global perspective.
“I think like any model there is debate about its role globally and the lead market is Europe so I guess there is debate about that. But for us it has been a massively successful model which we are trying to firm up in the future.”
Asked if a decision would be made this year, Collins said: “I would have thought so, yes.”
The 2.4-litre four-cylinder Accord Euro was introduced to complement the larger-US developed four-cylinder/V6 Accord. Honda Australia had opted for the larger car only from 1997-2002 and paid the price as sales plunged.
The Accord Euro recaptured the sporting market and the second generation car, introduced in June 2008, also won the Wheels Car of the Year.
“Clearly from our perspective the two Accord strategy, which is very unique in the world, has over time proved incredibly successful, but the longer term future is still under discussion,” Collins added.
“Of course our preference would be to continue a strategy that has been successful, but at this stage it hasn’t been decided, so if that means there’s doubt I guess there’s always doubt.”
A third generation Accord Euro would be an important part of Honda’s plan to rebuild its sales volume sin Australia. After reaching a high of 60,529 in 2007, it slumped as low as 30,107 in 2011. However, the fight back has begun with a target of 45,000 sales set for 2013 and 60,000 by 2015.
That sales drive is being supported by a solid roll-out of new models. The new Accord was launched in May, a diesel CR-V arrives around the end of the year, new generation Odyssey and Jazz early in 2014 and the production version of the mini-SUV based on the Urban concept either late 2014 or early 2015.
“We are pretty much on track for 45,000 this year,” Collins said. “CR-V is going well for us and Accord has got off to a very good start. We are probably struggling with Civic sedan and Jazz but there is intense competition in those segments.”
Collins played down any implications for Australia of increased manufacturing and model roll-out in China of 12 new models by 2015.
An Automotive News China report said the Accord, Odyssey-based Jade and the Crider small sedan would be launched in China this year. The company has a target of 1.5 million sales per annum in China by 2015.
“We currently have no plans to take cars from China,” Collins said. “Our current manufacturing base is Thailand, which contributes about 75 per cent. But of course we are constantly looking at sourcing and where we can get the best products from.
“In terms of new models, I am aware there are some China-specific models and again we are not looking specifically at those. I am assuming some of those 12 models are global-type models such as the next generation Civic and next generation Jazz... and they are in our plans.”
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Written byBruce Newton
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