This list of most popular cars shows me three things for Honda:
- How dependent Honda is on Fit sales for at least sales growth and mind share. As Civic and Accord are not the USA growth engines they once were.
- Sub-compact dominance is still anyone's game, and the roll out lag between the Gen 2 and Gen 3 has created a real opportunity for Fit now to catch Versa the Jan 2015 champion of sub-compact sales.
- Honda needs to step on the gas so to speak with Earth Dreams car/SUV rollouts, to make a real growth mark in the decade ahead.

January 2015 U.S. Passenger Car Sales Rankings - Top 152 Best-Selling Cars In America - Every Car Ranked - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

 

Definitely a step in the right direction. The Soul has been a top seller for a while. Nissan is determined to sell more than Honda and it has shown with the level of incentives, including buy and lease programs they are offering. It's the main reason for the Versa's big jump in sales.

Honda is not obsessed with market share and I hope it stays that way. Focus on new products and increase in quality.

 

I always liked Honda approach of not selling lot of cars to fleet sales. I think, it helps to retain their value better in used car market.

 

Agreed. Every other manufacturer is obsessed with sales number and allowing fleet sales is an easy trick to use. It does affect resale value.

Honda's focus is different. As I tell my customers, Honda is not a car company. They are an engineering company, based on how many different type of products they make.

 

That is so true. One time in a college class of mine back 20 years or so, the professor called Honda an engine company that happened to make cars plus other things. This has stuck with me my whole life.

 

You mean like they are with the upcoming (Spring 2015), Honda HR-V?

http://automobiles.honda.com/hr-v/#intro

 

Yes.
I think the HR-V could be a big hit.

It looks nice, I'd like to test drive one in 1.5L Turbo.

 

Is there any trim with 1.5L Turbo. Looks like it only comes with 1.8L Civic engine without DI.

 

Not any longer.

Honda has not made a truly impressive engine in almost 15 years.

The F20C/K20A were Honda's peak. The GK's new engine is a nice stride forward, but not nearly what it could've been; all the other Earth Dreams engines are quite unimpressive, rather like Honda's "Earth Dreams" F1 program

 

GK - what does that stand for? Everyone uses it...but I've never see what GK means.

 

GK refers to the chassis of new generation FIT vehicle. It is typical of automakers to use a code like this to refer to and identify a particular chassis.
Not sure. but in the future when the HR-V mini SUV hits the market, GK would also likely refer to it also.
Both the FIT and the HR-V will share the same chassis, as does the overseas Honda Jazz.

Also as an another example, I owned a Jeep Compass. Both the Jeep Compass and Partiot share the same chassis. Both the Compass and Patriot were know as "MK" chassis. It simply was what Chrysler referenced the chassis by.

 

As vehicles evolve they get fatter. Civics used to be subcompacts, but they have grown to near-mid-size dimensions. The Fit is the New Civic!

I'm looking forward to the HR-V as well as it might make a good Scion xB replacement.

I love my xB and if Toyota would import the current bB I'd get one in a heartbeat. Unfortunately Toyota decided to pull defeat from the jaws of victory with the "second generation" xB. 24MPG, meh. Meanwhile, Kia sells every Soul they bring over.

 

So far all Honda is reporting on is Civic Type-R for the very high powered 2.0 Turbo, rumored to be near 300 bhp, and Civic Sales do need that boost. But what do you think Honda will do with the 1.5L Turbo's they are building in Ohio at least for the N.A. market? Will it make more sense to do a Fit "Sport" with that 1.5L Turbo or a HR-V Sport?
Honda Introduces New Family of Turbocharged, Direct-Injected Engines ? News ? Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog

 

Honda will slowly, but inevitably, introduce turbo engines across the line. The only models I don't expect a turbo engine in for a while is the Pilot, Ridgeline and Odyssey. My GSM believes that the 2.0L turbo will eventually replace the V6 on the Accord as well. This is not something Honda has told him officially, just what he believes the direction of the company is heading.

While everyone loves turbo engines, I have always preferred Honda NA engines. It's nice to be different to what other manufacturers are doing and Honda has been holding off for as long as they can. I guess they just reached a limit with emissions and everything else.

I will miss high revving, Honda VTEC engines!!

 

Already long gone

 

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. Honda gave in to the "cars as appliances" mantra a long time ago. But at least they're appliances that are good at what they do, for the most part (yes, I'm talking to you as the exception, Civic "Si").

 

What's wrong with the Si?

 

There's precious little sport in the Sport Injection, IMHO. It's more of a EX Plus than an Si.

 

That's pretty much what it has always been.

My '91 Si had better seats, a 5MT, D16A6 with MPFI rather than DPFI and more creature comforts.

92-95 Si was pretty similar, except with worse seats.

99-00 Si was an EX with different seats, gauges, wheels, lip kit and B16.

02-05 Si was radically different from normal Civic.

06-11 Si had K20Z3 w/ 6MT, seats, wheels, lip kit, mild suspension tuning.

12+ Si has K24 w/ 6MT, seats, wheels, lip kit, mild suspension tuning.

I'd say its about par for the course. The Si has never been a Type R, not even remotely.

 

No, it hasn't. Up until and including the bubbleback, it was a fun sporty-ish car (99-00 tetter on the acceptable/not acceptable precipice). Yes, it never had the HP of a Type R, but it made up for it with tossability (not to mention being a very good platform for swaps, obviously). Now it's no longer tossable nor really fun, and I certainly wouldn't recommend that it be a candidate for a swap. As it currently sits, the engine is the best (if somewhat underpowered) part of it, and the rest of the car is letting down any sporting pretense it may have.