Honda officially kills the Accord Hybrid

I wonder if the Lexus hybrids (LS, GS and RX) will see the same fate. People might not be willing to pay the price premium for fuel economy #s that don't look that special.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Jun 5 2007, 03:32 PM) [snapback]456046[/snapback]</div>

Not really. The Accord Hybrid was a V6 that was faster than the regular V6 version (but slightly better mileage than the 4 cylinder). The prob was its price was too high since it came pretty much fully loaded. MSRP for the Accord Hybrid is $31090 w/o nav and $33090 w/nav. Value Edition Accord automatics 4s start at MSRP $19425 and LX V6s started at $20925. The V6 Accord is already plenty fast and if one wanted good economy, the 4 cylinder seems like a much better deal.

The HyCam is not a performance oriented hybrid w/only slightly more power than a regular 4 cylinder version and its MSRP starts at $26200.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Jun 6 2007, 01:48 AM) [snapback]456390[/snapback]</div>

Very true.

But hey, for some folks in this board Toyota does no wrong and "HSD" is the going to be the reason why the Lexus hybrids will sell well... :lol:

Its too bad that the Lexus hybrids sales are doing poorly (if I read the monthly sales figures correctly, each month they're declining more and more). You would have figured Toyota learnt the lesson from its smaller competitor. Oh well.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

a lot of honda lovers that wanted a hybrid opted for a accord hybrid, one of my friends did. I told him weeks before to buy a Prius, in pure ignorance he bought the accord hybrid and started to complain why it doesnt get good gas mileage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(statultra @ Jun 6 2007, 07:19 AM) [snapback]456419[/snapback]</div>

He would have done the same in the Prius.

 

I don't know... IMHO the Accord should have been based on the 4-cylinder, and basically been a more direct competitor to the TCH (and been there first), but I don't think Honda gave the hybrid they did make a fair shake, either. I don't recall seeing any advertising for the Accord hybrid, but they don't seem to have gone out of their way to try to attract the speed demon crowd (for that matter, this type of hybrid might have been better suited to an Acura badge). Even on their webpage, where if someone went to seek out information on the accord hybrid, the phrase "The most powerful Accord ever" doesn't show up until the second paragraph.

Basically, my thinking is that there is (or could be) a market for this car out there, but the people who would be interested in a hybrid and would find this car sans marketing are generally interested in fuel efficiency. Whereas the people interested in a high-tech sporty sedan wouldn't even consider looking for a hybrid, and would need to be told this option was out there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Jun 5 2007, 10:57 AM) [snapback]455710[/snapback]</div>

The 2008 diesels will be Tier 2 Bin 5, so not as clean as a Prius. PZEV references evaprative emissions which diesel naturally has low evaprative emissions due to being a larger molecule. This has the downside of causing the area around any diesel pump to look like an oil slick because the fuel doesn't evaporate like gasoline does.

I agree that the future is electric drives regardless of the initial power source.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(statultra @ Jun 6 2007, 04:19 AM) [snapback]456419[/snapback]</div>

Didn't he look at the EPA sticker ahead of time. I looked at the Accord hybrid and the regular Accord 2 years ago. There was hardly any difference in the mileage estimate.

Dave M.

 

Honda should have put their hybrid powertrain on the Odyssey.
Now, THAT would've been a Prius/Sienna killer...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Jun 7 2007, 08:56 AM) [snapback]457332[/snapback]</div>

That would never happen.

Honda has stated for many years now, that "hybrid technology" offers diminishing returns when deployed into larger vehicle platforms.

Knowing Honda and how stubborn they are, this will also categorically NOT happen in the near future either.

Instead their Odyssey will go Diesel in the not too distant future.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

The demise of Hybrid Accord is not a surprise to me.
Honda's strategy has been and continue to be
- small vehicle - hybridized (Civic, Fit and the coming new small hybrid sports car)
- mid/large vehicle - dieselized (Accord, Pilot, Odyssey, etc.)
Starting from Accord, the new diesel engine will be introduced. It was rumored to have
62mpg (from autospies.com). However, other source puts it at 45mpg. I believe the later one personally.
It will be either a 2.2 or 2.4 diesel, capable of meeting CA new emiision standard though not as clean as
a Prius.

 

Honda is down to one hybrid. Toyota is number one in hybrids. By the end of this year GM will be number two with several models of hybrids in both SUV and cars. I wish Honda would step back up and compete with Toyota.

They could sell a large number of CR-V or Element hybrids. A 4Cyl accord hybrid would not be a bad idea either.