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

**asb75** · June 7th, 2012 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by eggman

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** · June 7th, 2012 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by niky

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.

**flex** · June 7th, 2012 08:25 PM

i dont know what the folks in Honda are smoking right now...with the price of the Pilot...i'd rather buy the Explorer...if i had the money hehehe

**LNopal** · June 7th, 2012 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by jut703

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.

**LNopal** · June 7th, 2012 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by 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".

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

**Starex_Gold** · June 7th, 2012 08:39 PM

:popcorn: :pepsi:

**LNopal** · June 7th, 2012 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by asb75

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

Nakita? Have you driven it or rode in it? Do you know there are 2 versions of odyssey catering for different markets? Seeing is one thing, driving both is another.

**LNopal** · June 7th, 2012 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by flex

i dont know what the folks in Honda are smoking right now...with the price of the Pilot...i'd rather buy the Explorer...if i had the money hehehe

Prolly honda refuses to water-down their product?

**niky** · June 7th, 2012 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by LNopal

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.

This is the Philippines. 7+1 would fit in a Honda Jazz here.

If we're talking large... the Kia Carnival is almost as wide and is taller, is available for less money and comes with a diesel to boot. But it's not very popular, locally. In fact... sales aren't really that great for what is arguably the most modern diesel van on the market.

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The problem is, if you don't think locally and adapt yourself to the market, you lose. It doesn't matter if a car is a best-seller elsewhere... if it doesn't meet local demands in this market, it will flop.

The US-style minivan formula doesn't translate very well to the Philippines. Relatively low-slung MPVs like the Odyssey or the Carnival are not going to lord it over truck-based vans like the Grand Starex. Especially not considering the price difference. And the V6? A sure death sentence. Much as I like the Alphard V6, I can probably count the sales of this car here on one hand.

The Philippines has a few demands for vans. They have to be big. Not necessarily wide. Wide is a handicap in this country, where it's easy to lose a side mirror to passing motorbikes. Instead, for some reason, despite Filipinos being an average of five-foot-nothing in height, local buyers like tall vans. And they want them diesel.

I've seen buyers go into a Toyota dealership looking for a luxurious van, and instead of going for a very comfortable leather-equipped dual captain's chair Previa, they go home with a hard-riding, ladder-frame refrigerator box HiAce. Just because it has more headroom and a diesel motor.

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There are a few rich folks who like nice, big gasoline vehicles... but if you're looking for a 2.8 million peso status symbol, most of these people will be buying SUVs, instead.

You have to realize, selling the Odyssey here at nearly three million bucks is going to be a very hard sell. Even the otherwise excellent Pilot had dismal sales. Consider that the much smaller Nissan Murano sold ten times as much... and the CX9, despite Mazda's sales woes in this country, also outsold the Pilot.

Despite the fact that Toyota and Honda enjoy a good reputation amongst local buyers, people aren't going to pay huge premiums for all their products. Cases in point: The Toyota RAV4, whose sales are dismal, and the Honda Pilot, whose sales were even worse. Bringing the Pilot back when there was no demand in the first place represents a fundamental disconnect between management expectations and market reality. The Odyssey will have to be at least 400,000 pesos cheaper to compete in this market... not that the market for V6 US-style minivans is that big, to begin with.

And this is me... talking as a Honda fan. One who enjoyed the much-maligned FB Honda Civic when I drove it last month, and one who's happy with our 2007 Honda CR-V. I will inevitably get a chance to drive the new Odyssey. And if it's anything like the Accord, I will enjoy it very much, but I'm not holding my breath on it selling well.

Originally Posted by 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.

The car that's smaller is the Brio. Honda doesn't want to manufacture an LHD variant just for us.

Boo. Hyundai did it with the Eon...

**renzo_d10** · June 7th, 2012 10:18 PM

Si LNopal kaya yan defensive kasi meron sya (aw, butthurt!)

Dude must think he lives somewhere else, he's not in the philippines

So yung MPG MPG nya na sinasabi, wala yan dito

Yung 7+1, 7+1 ek ek wont work here

You want to sell your products well? Cheap + diesel engine

We're not in the US dude. We're in THE Philippines