gshb

i dont like the direction honda is going as much as the next guy. but to continue with their v10 project would commit a huge organizational bias. he made the right move as a ceo which was to avoid an escalation of commitment and thus avoid committing additional resources to a failing cause based on the hope that there will be turnaround. as a non-honda fan i could care less, because it was clear even before the rumors of a new nsx they are banking on hydrogen and hybrid. how could they not? how could anyone not when toyota is raking in the dough? if the insight was a smash hit then maybe the project could be funded. why must everyone get so strung up on the emotional connection to sports cars.

Initial B

iTrader: (2)

I never saw the need or justification for Honda to pursue a V10 supercar. What they should have done, years ago, was come out with a 3.5-4L V8 NSX replacement that looked like the HSC. They also should have put a V8 into a RWD/AWD lux sedan to walk the walk with their Tier 1 aspirations.

The G Man

That Q&A session sure sounds like he is singing Honda's swan song to me. The Honda CEO sounded like he is talking about a failing company already.
He is disconnecting Honda with high performance and hoping to build cars that are eco friendly and performs well. Of course there are numbers of other car companies trying to do the same thing. Some companies are well ahead of them in green tech and performance and have much more R&D cash to play with.
It has been a downward circle for Honda lately. They are having trouble raising cash the last few years, less cash means less R&D money in the present, less R&D money now means less profit in the future. The cycle just goes on and on unless the CEO does something drastic to change it. The future is not bright for Honda.

rogers2

I agree and disagree with a lot that has been posted. But I honestly feel Honda should just shut up and stop making excuses for everything. Combine Honda & Acura and just sell average cars. I rather go down in flames trying to be the best vs. making average cars and failing. Everybody knows Honda has lost their way and now he’s admitting it. I honestly hate some things about Toyota b/c I feel that they make cheap car that are not necessary. But at least Toyota has learn if we want make money duplicate and give the America buyers what they seek. Honda tried to be so unique and special at everything that they don’t know what to do next. I predict that Honda is going to continue to lose ground and Honda buyers are going to move to VW.
Taken a jab at Toyota was unnecessary. I guess he’s jealous. I don’t like the lfa because I feel it should have been mid engine. But if I was Toyota CEO I would say in your FACE!!! Now what!!

The G Man

rogers2, I agree, its time for Honda and Acura to put up or shut up. They have been talking about these future plans for years and nothing have change. They are like my boss, all talk and no action. If they are happy selling just average cars, then just say so, and dont pretent they have some sort of break thru in technology in the near future.
It almost seems like lexus and Acura have switch roles in recent years. Lexus actually have become more technology minded than Acura these days. Perhaps Acura doesnt think they need real technology because that new cooperate grill represents technologies in their new cars according to Acura's chief designer. With the release of the LA-F, I think it is finally check mate for Acura as far as being Japan's most technological car company.

LexFather

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Se...ra-for-Europe/

Honda's future: small cars, no NSX or Euro Acura

By Ben Pulman

Industry news

23 October 2009 11:22

Honda chief executive Takanobu Ito today spelled out his vision for the next decade at Honda to CAR Online. No successor to the NSX is under development, but there will be a smaller city car slotting under the Jazz in Honda's range. It will be launched in Asia at first, potentially following in the rest of the world.

Ito, who is also president of Honda R&D, said that the company had no firm plans for a pure battery electric vehicle at this stage – the onus is on hybrid petrol electric cars and fuel-cell models.

It will continue to develop diesels for Europe, but Ito admitted a project to build clean-fuel diesels for the US market had been cancelled. He also expressed regrets over pulling out of F1, but said it made sound business sense to pump the money saved back into developing eco technologies.

What next for Honda's hybrids?

Speaking to CAR at the 2009 Tokyo motor show, CEO Ito said that future Hondas would use one of two hybrid systems. Small cars of Civic size or below would use a single-motor part-electric system, whereas bigger hybrid cars would use two electric motors.

He also confirmed that future Honda road cars would use direct injection tech, and that his company was researching turbocharging. At present, forced induction is only used on turbodiesels, but Honda acknowledges that downsizing allowed by blown, smaller capacity engines will be key to lowering CO2 and emissions.

And what of the top end Hondas?

Ito ruled out any launch of the Acura brand in Europe, to challenge Lexus and the newly launched Infiniti. He also scotched rumours of a planned new-generation NSX, even a hybrid one.

Fuel-cell cars, like the FCX, will continue to be leased rather than sold outright – until Honda can mass develop the tech to be available at a more affordable price.

>> Come back to CAR Online in the next few days for the full interview with Honda CEO Takanobu Ito

nthach

The only "performance" Honda might only be 2-wheeled as in a CBR. It's time for them to do some soul-seeking and find a way back to their glory days of the 1990s. Right now, Toyota is mopping them clean as far as "green" and luxury cars go - Toyota sold more Priuses in a MONTH than Honda sold Insights in a few. I highly doubt Honda buyers will jump ship to VW, more than likely Hyundai will fill that gap in - in the US at least.

I think Honda's slowly being the Japanese Chrysler - remember back in the 1980s when Chrysler built their whole product line almost entirely off the K-Car platform? Honda's rubber stamping FWD these days, the Accord/Odyssey/Pilot/Ridgeline/TL/RL/TSX/MDX are built on customized and tweaked variants of the Accord platform - the truck/van/SUV are North American specific while the Civic/CR-V/RDX sit on top of the Civic platfrom and the Fit/Insight share one.