Honda Sneaks Up on the Big 3

H onda Motor Co.'s Asimo is no ordinary robot. With its latest upgrade, the 4-foot Asimo, who occasionally greets visitors in English and Japanese at Honda's Tokyo headquarters, can calculate how fast people are walking and keep pace with them.

The same ingenuity and engineering skill that produced Asimo have pushed Honda to the forefront in developing futuristic fuel-cell cars. As volatile gas prices are shifting U.S. consumers' interest to more fuel-efficient models, Honda is the only automaker with a fuel-cell car certified for U.S. retail buyers, and it has leased two hydrogen-powered FCX cars to customers to monitor their performance under real-life conditions.

Detroit's automakers are fixating on Toyota Motor Corp. as their biggest threat, but Honda, Japan's No. 2 carmaker, is also gaining on them. Together, Toyota and Honda account for a fourth of U.S. auto sales, and half the vehicles sold here by foreign automakers. While Honda may not be growing as fast as Toyota, which has 15.4 percent of the market, it has expanded steadily. Over the past 10 years, Honda has increased its U.S. market share 50 percent to 9.1 percent.

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Westside7th - 3/9/2007 8:21:36 PM

0 Boost

Detroit's automakers aren't fixated on Toyota. The media is. This article is stupid.

r_driver04 - 3/12/2007 3:29:00 PM

+1 Boost

Quick, offer 100K mile warranties and cross your fingers. And the domestics aren't focused on the Japanese. HUH!!!

S4cabriofoxone - 3/9/2007 8:35:27 PM

+2 Boost

Go Honda!

Their engineering excellence is awe-inspiring.

If the FCX isn't $7,000,000,000, I might have to have one. It would be a nice supplement to my future gas-guzzler.

DieselRules - 3/10/2007 4:04:04 PM

+2 Boost

Yes, there's that fundamental conflict between the car we "should" buy and car we "want" to buy.
I guess that's why I have my VW TDI for the commute, and my A6 twin-turbo 6-speed so I can get my G-force fix :)

S4cabriofoxone - 3/12/2007 9:23:33 PM

0 Boost

I had an A6 2.7T quattro before the S4. The sedan was great. Stylish, great interior, great thrust, and it didn't have any problems in terms of reliability.

Do you have it with the stick or Tiptronic? They didn't offer many with the manual in the US, so I had to settle with a Tip.

But I would just never go back to a sedan after the Cabriolet...

(-;

528i - 3/9/2007 9:50:19 PM

-3 Boost

Who's the big there???

528i - 3/9/2007 9:50:48 PM

-2 Boost

I meant "three"

S4cabriofoxone - 3/9/2007 11:58:12 PM

+2 Boost

Are you joking?

528i - 3/10/2007 4:41:36 AM

+1 Boost

"Sarcasm"

DieselRules - 3/10/2007 4:07:53 PM

-3 Boost

the "BIG 3" in CARs are TOYOTA, VW, and GM.
(and I think that's the correct order from highest sales down)
based on global production.
Of course, in the US the trucks include SUVs, vans, and mini-vans, so technically there are more trucks sold in the US than cars. But outside north America car sales are much greater than trucks.

truecarlover - 3/9/2007 11:18:40 PM

+8 Boost

I've always like Honda over Toyota because they are just as reliable but thte cars are a little sportier. Nissan has been the sportiest of the Japanese - but the reliability wasn't up there as the other two. If you look at the luxury divisions of the three you could say the same about Infiniti being the sportiest, Acura second, and then Lexus.

S4cabriofoxone - 3/9/2007 11:58:31 PM

+1 Boost

I COMPLETELY AGREE.

courtstone - 3/10/2007 2:36:50 PM

+3 Boost

I also agree with that. I believe that Honda's are more reliable.

DallasMR2 - 3/12/2007 10:50:52 AM

+2 Boost

i couldn't have said it better!!!

Lexus - 3/10/2007 12:44:37 AM

0 Boost

Why are there so much Japanese Auto haters on this website?

DieselRules - 3/10/2007 4:11:42 PM

+4 Boost

this site is car-nuts, and "most" prefer performance over luxury (even at the price of increased maintenance costs) hence a European bias over Japanese. But some prefer luxury without as much performance (Lexus), or pure 4-wheeled appliances (such as a Corolla) so there are many Japanese supporters too.

truecarlover - 3/10/2007 8:07:20 PM

+3 Boost

I agree with DieslRules on that. I can speak for experince as I have driven Toyotas and Hondas for the past 10 years. To me they were both the same in terms of reliability but as I said above the Honda was more sporty (handling as well as engine/transmission). We had an Audi and BMW's in our family and I still prefer Germans because of the sportiness. I've driven many cars from an E55 AMG Benz to an M3 to a Porsche Boxster. I just love to DRIVE German cars as opposed to saying I think a Japanese car is a good buy value wise.

r_driver04 - 3/12/2007 3:30:24 PM

+3 Boost

Because most of us on this site like "good driving" cars.

AUTO_UNION - 3/10/2007 3:45:27 AM

+4 Boost

Go honda!

truecarlover - 3/10/2007 8:00:53 PM

+1 Boost

I agree that the Maxima and the Avalon are now (though that Maxima sure drives nice). The Altima and the Camry have moved too close to those cars in size - not to mention you can get basically the same V6 engine in the lesser siblings - I don't get the point.

trd1 - 3/10/2007 1:46:39 PM

-4 Boost

are you guys joking, i always liked honda over toyota, hahahahahahaha, you guys are funny. hows honda more sporty then toyota, wow there little civic si is slower then the corolla XRS and almost all there cars are slower then toyotas. also all of toyotas cars look nicer and have better performence then stupid ricer hondas.

DieselRules - 3/10/2007 4:16:13 PM

+3 Boost

"all of toyotas cars look nicer and have better performence then stupid ricer hondas." I presume you like Toyota because you don't see any "riced up" Toyotas on the street. Could that be because they can't handle performce mods, so nobody has bothered hopping up a Toyota (car) since the last Supras were imported?

Most people equate "Toyota Performance" with lawn-mower races. Why bother?

r_driver04 - 3/12/2007 3:35:37 PM

0 Boost

Let me hop up a front drive car and try to make it handle like a 3 Series. Don't forget your "folgers" coffee can performance exhaust kit.

You can slice 'em and dice 'em but you just can't rice 'em!!!

IhavearedS2000 - 3/12/2007 5:32:44 PM

+1 Boost

Honda isn't trying to match Toyota or BMW, car for car in each segment - Honda, for better or worse, is just trying to be a better Honda. Still no RWD V8, but sportier than the typical Toyota and more sensible than the typical Nissan. It will be interesting to see what Honda does after the sportier Lexi come out, my guess they won't change their strategy that much. Honda is a smaller company and it can't afford to stretch itself to thin. But more importantly, if they could I don't think they would anyway - just a different way of doing things, a smart, long term perspective type of way.

Anthony - 3/13/2007 11:22:21 PM

+1 Boost

People will always hate those with the most success. Toyota is the most successful brand out there, which is why it is so easy to hate them. Honda does not have the booming success of Toyota, simply due to different business philosophies. Resulting, Toyota will continue to boom, yet garner hate, and Honda will continue on idle, yet garner affection.