Honda to sell 2 US-made cars (PILOT & ODYSSEY) in PH

[niky]

If honda don't even try, they already failed. It's good that honda is attempting to do it since there's a small market that can be grabbed. If they fail in the philippines for these new vehicles, then they failed trying. Nothing wrong with that. But as an odyssey owner, i will recommend it especially the touring elite for it has thebest mpg on its class.

The market has already been grabbed.

People who want an MPV for over 2m have the Previa... which competes directly with they Odyssey... for half a million less and the Alphard (which is much bigger and comes with a V6... and drives and rides spectacularly) for around the same price.

And yet... the Grand Starex outsells them both. People even buy the ridiculously expensive Limo version, because it has a diesel engine, a tallboy roof and a crapload of space.

The Odyssey is just too expensive and too small to justify the price-tag. They would have been better served by bringing in Asian-produced models like the Stream... but since they don't have LHD variants (and Honda Taiwan doesn't seem interested in building them), Honda is stuck bringing in US-made models.

Which, as shown by the last time they brought the Pilot in... is a recipe for disaster. It didn't sell well, and it had a negative effect on brand image.

[vinj]

^By chance did Honda hire any Yulon executives?

[glntVR]

The Odyssey is just too expensive and too small to justify the price-tag. They would have been better served by bringing in Asian-produced models like the Stream... but since they don't have LHD variants (and Honda Taiwan doesn't seem interested in building them), Honda is stuck bringing in US-made models.

Just a question, isn't this USDM Odyssey the same size, if not bigger than a Toyota Alphard? I'm not really sure what the dimensions are but USDM vans are usually big and spacious inside.

IMO the Odyssey is priced right considering its quite loaded... but the Pilot? forget about it, expensive and ugly. The Explorer and the CX9 are much much better and cheaper

[asb75]

naunahan nang Chevrolet Orlando ang Honda Odyssey, tapos nandiyaan pa ang ibang mga korean cars na guwapo. Too late, too late.

[jave]

Honda Ph still thinks it can sell on brand name alone.

They should've just brought the Stepwagon or the Freed. Or back then, instead of the Pilot, the Element when it was still in production.

Instead, they revive a lost soul with a poor track record, a car with a potentially miniscule market and last year, a normal compact saloon dressed up with useless aesthetics marketed as a "sporty limited edition".

[eggman]

Honda Pilot | The Power of Dreams

Abangan nyo nalang yung Explorer na may HID at BLIS kaysa dito sa Pilot!

[LNopal]

Honda Ph still thinks it can sell on brand name alone.

They should've just brought the Stepwagon or the Freed. Or back then, instead of the Pilot, the Element when it was still in production.

Instead, they revive a lost soul with a poor track record, a car with a potentially miniscule market and last year, a normal compact saloon dressed up with useless aesthetics marketed as a "sporty limited edition".

Lost soul? That's funny. Btw, if you want an uncomfortable ute, element is the right vehicle for you.

[eggman]

Just a question, isn't this USDM Odyssey the same size, if not bigger than a Toyota Alphard? I'm not really sure what the dimensions are but USDM vans are usually big and spacious inside.

IMO the Odyssey is priced right considering its quite loaded... but the Pilot? forget about it, expensive and ugly. The Explorer and the CX9 are much much better and cheaper

The Odyssey is bigger than the Alphard and Town and Country:

Honda Odyssey | Power of Dreams

Panay EX-L variants ng Odyssey at Pilot 4WD ang dinala ng HCPI dito..Expect nyo nang FLOP yang Pilot,its ugly inside and out!

Walang LHD version ng Freed,Stream at Stepwagon..Elysion mayroon pero gawang China..

Odyssey vs Orlando?LOL!!Ikumpara ba naman sa malaking van ang Orlando..LOL!!!

[jave]

*egg:

Sayang. Kakain sa market ng Starex/Hi-Ace yung Stepwagon. Or they could go smaller. Get some of their cars smaller than the Jazz and fight the i10's, Alto's and Picanto's.

[asb75]

The Odyssey is bigger than the Alphard and Town and Country:

Honda Odyssey | Power of Dreams

Panay EX-L variants ng Odyssey at Pilot 4WD ang dinala ng HCPI dito..Expect nyo nang FLOP yang Pilot,its ugly inside and out!

Walang LHD version ng Freed,Stream at Stepwagon..Elysion mayroon pero gawang China..

Odyssey vs Orlando?LOL!!Ikumpara ba naman sa malaking van ang Orlando..LOL!!!

Don't be so sure about the size dahil nakita ko na yang Honda Odyssey dito sa Singapore.

[LNopal]

The market has already been grabbed.

People who want an MPV for over 2m have the Previa... which competes directly with they Odyssey... for half a million less and the Alphard (which is much bigger and comes with a V6... and drives and rides spectacularly) for around the same price.

And yet... the Grand Starex outsells them both. People even buy the ridiculously expensive Limo version, because it has a diesel engine, a tallboy roof and a crapload of space.

The Odyssey is just too expensive and too small to justify the price-tag. They would have been better served by bringing in Asian-produced models like the Stream... but since they don't have LHD variants (and Honda Taiwan doesn't seem interested in building them), Honda is stuck bringing in US-made models.

Which, as shown by the last time they brought the Pilot in... is a recipe for disaster. It didn't sell well, and it had a negative effect on brand image.

Hmmmmm, that's interesting to know that odyssey is small. Having to own one, the 7+1 seat van comfortably travelled several hundreds of miles. We could stuff the van with more people, but we have to abide by the law to only carry the stated number of passengers. Also, the luggages and abubots were neatly tucked.

[jut703]

If honda don't even try, they already failed. It's good that honda is attempting to do it since there's a small market that can be grabbed. If they fail in the philippines for these new vehicles, then they failed trying. Nothing wrong with that. But as an odyssey owner, i will recommend it especially the touring elite for it has thebest mpg on its class.

Best MPG in class? Anyone interested in getting good gas mileage would get a Starex, Carnival, Innova, or even a Montero Sport/Fortuner.

The Odyssey has none of the gravitas of the Explorer, and it isn't any more desirable than the Previa/Alphard (both priced more competitively).

There are a lot of other ways that Honda can try to be competitive. Take the ugly chrome grille out of the City E for example

More importantly, they should make the rest of their line-up more competitive. I know that there are still a lot of die-hard Honda believers, but more and more people are now open to trying other options.

The City 1.5E is still quite reasonably priced (maybe 10 grand too much, but that's acceptable), but the City 1.3S is too expensive when you consider that you can get a 1.4-liter subcompact for about 100k less, and that the 786k price tag is too close to TOTL Mazda 2 and more expensive than the Yaris, Swift and Vios 1.5 G. Same thing goes for the Jazz 1.3S. It puzzles me though why the 1.5V Jazz priced at 900k still sells pretty well.

Then there's the Civic. Everyone knows about its horrendous pricing that's too close to the 2-liter TOTL compacts from other brands that offer more power and more kit. Instead of bringing in more models that are bound to fail, why not lobby harder for Thai-made Civics and offer them in more trim levels? Their V, S and 2.0 S models for the FD worked well, and I see no reason to deviate for the FB model.

The CR-V, with its polarizing looks, will never match the success of the 1st and 2nd gen models. This 4th gen CR-V is bigger and looks better than the 3rd gen it replaces (for me at least), but it's priced too high for the amount of kit it offers (which can be found on a Korean SUV for over 200k less). Then there's the overlapping threat from the pickup-based SUVs. My point is, like the Civic, the CR-V doesn't offer anything to justify its high price, save for the overused Honda brand "prestige".

[eggman]

Alphard is not priced competitively dahil mahal na ang 2012 Alphard kaysa sa dati..Comparing the Odyssey to the Explorer is stupid dahil iba ang segment ng dalawang yan..Yung Pilot eh sure na flop yan but the Odyssey eh papatok yan sa mga nasa upper middle class at rich class families na gusto ng van!

[LNopal]

Best MPG in class? Anyone interested in getting good gas mileage would get a Starex, Carnival, Innova, or even a Montero Sport/Fortuner.

The Odyssey has none of the gravitas of the Explorer, and it isn't any more desirable than the Previa/Alphard (both priced more competitively).

There are a lot of other ways that Honda can try to be competitive. Take the ugly chrome grille out of the City E for example

More importantly, they should make the rest of their line-up more competitive. I know that there are still a lot of die-hard Honda believers, but more and more people are now open to trying other options.

The City 1.5E is still quite reasonably priced (maybe 10 grand too much, but that's acceptable), but the City 1.3S is too expensive when you consider that you can get a 1.4-liter subcompact for about 100k less, and that the 786k price tag is too close to TOTL Mazda 2 and more expensive than the Yaris, Swift and Vios 1.5 G. Same thing goes for the Jazz 1.3S. It puzzles me though why the 1.5V Jazz priced at 900k still sells pretty well.

Then there's the Civic. Everyone knows about its horrendous pricing that's too close to the 2-liter TOTL compacts from other brands that offer more power and more kit. Instead of bringing in more models that are bound to fail, why not lobby harder for Thai-made Civics and offer them in more trim levels? Their V, S and 2.0 S models for the FD worked well, and I see no reason to deviate for the FB model.

The CR-V, with its polarizing looks, will never match the success of the 1st and 2nd gen models. This 4th gen CR-V is bigger and looks better than the 3rd gen it replaces (for me at least), but it's priced too high for the amount of kit it offers (which can be found on a Korean SUV for over 200k less). Then there's the overlapping threat from the pickup-based SUVs. My point is, like the Civic, the CR-V doesn't offer anything to justify its high price, save for the overused Honda brand "prestige".

Are you sure about your statements? Because sales in this part of the world just emphasizes that doubters like you were wrong in everything. But since you want to be local, then have it your way. Either stay with what you think are the best or try this new van and see for yourself. If cost is holding you back from purchasing honda cars then don't buy honda cars. Simple and easy.

[jut703]

Are you sure about your statements? Because sales in this part of the world just emphasizes that doubters like you were wrong in everything. But since you want to be local, then have it your way. Either stay with what you think are the best or try this new van and see for yourself. If cost is holding you back from purchasing honda cars then don't buy honda cars. Simple and easy.

Yes I'm sure about my statements. Sales figures back it up too. Honda has slipped behind Hyundai as the 3rd biggest automotive brand in the country by sales volume.

And what are you trying to say? That we're backward because we want cheaper diesel-powered cars? Na mas magaling ka kasi pang-amerikano yung taste mo? Pare nakapagstates ka lang, that doesn't make you any better than Filipinos back here.

Cost is not holding me back to buy Honda cars. The reason I wouldn't buy a Civic, CR-V or Jazz is because they're overpriced for the package they offer. For almost 100,000 pesos less than a Jazz, I can get a better-handling, better-looking Ford Fiesta S. For just 50k more than the Civic, I can get a diesel-powered Ford Focus that's faster, more fuel efficient, and handles better. For over 100k less than a CR-V, I can get a diesel-powered Kia Sportage that's also faster and more fuel efficient. Or for about the same price, I can get a Montero GLX-V that's bigger, seats more, and is more fuel efficient.

Now, are you gonna fault me for having a fondness for diesel-powered vehicles? Are you gonna taunt me of being cheap? Well, diesel costs close to 10 pesos less than unleaded gasoline, and diesel-powered vehicles get better mileage than similarly-powered gasoline counterparts. In the case of the Focus and Sportage, they're more powerful too. I'm just being practical.

And since I'm sure that I'm not the only person thinking this way, I'd bet my right testicle that Honda's introduction of the Odyssey and Pilot won't do anything to save its plummeting sales.

[Starex_Gold]

For just 50k more than the Civic, I can get a diesel-powered Ford Focus that's faster, more fuel efficient, and handles better. For over 100k less than a CR-V, I can get a diesel-powered Kia Sportage that's also faster and more fuel efficient. Or for about the same price, I can get a Montero GLX-V that's bigger, seats more, and is more fuel efficient.

After discounts, the Focus TDCi is cheaper than the Civic FB. More than 100K discount na nakuha namin sa Focus.

[LNopal]

*niky, it's not status symbol, it's experiencing life. And honda is not a luxury brand, but acura is; barely.

It's not taking the US formula to PI, honda is just filling the gaps where there are gaps. That's expanding the market, but for 40 units/month, that's nothing to the entire sales of the vehicle. People who can afford will buy and people who can't will not. What's the problem with that?

[Starex_Gold]

People that can afford and doesn't think right

[renzo_d10]

People that can afford and doesn't think right

Ya.

Like those people who buy big SUVs who doesn't know a thing about its features.

Hey I drive an Explorer!
Have you used the MFT?
WTH is that?

Hahahaha.

[Starex_Gold]

Hahaha. Pero seryoso diba.

If I have 3M now.

Explorer > Prado ....... > Pilot

Alphard > GS Limo > GS HVX > Odyssey