Why Honda doesn't continue the HX line?

Seems like every few years Honda will produce Civic HX, and then drop
it almost as immediately as they roll them out.

Why? I love the CVT transmission and the fuel efficient VTEC they
have. What gives? Are they not selling?

 

i dont think the dealers are making any effort to sell them. for one I
know they don't come with A/C which is a big problem (at least here
in the south). I looked for one a few months ago and the best price I
could find was equal to one of the lx versions or one of the special
editions.... which made it not worth messing with.

I'm guessing there is not much profit to be made on those so the
dealers are not to motiviated to sell them.

 

good question! dealers are all about selling the expensive stuff.
stuff that's cheaper and reliable isn't favorite. i ask the same
question about hatchbacks.

 

Again, Jim knows it all.
BTW Jim, did anyone tell you they stopped building the HX model and
hatchbacks?
Howard

 

Why would they sell the cheap stuff? Margins aren't as good. If you were a
dealer, you'd be doing the same thing. Make hay while the sun shines.
Tomorrow it might rain. Some of these dealers are run by people who
remember 1991.

Hatchback sales dropped like a rock in the early '90s. They were decidedly
uncool then.

Recently they've enjoyed a resurgence, and manufacturers are producing them
again. Station wagons are coming back too.

 

uncool maybe, but about 10x more pratical (and often smaller)

i like wagons (or estates as I know them better)

 

maybe, but i don't understand why. as someone that's owned a cvt
vehicle, i can say from experience that it's a very good and efficient
system. it's "odd" not to have the notchy old shift going on, but it's
highly effective nevertheless. reliable too. and the fuel economy of
the hx's is quite superb.

but it's not just initial sales. the "downstream" income is considerable.

huh, i've heard dealers say that many times - but the fact remains that
here in california, you can't buy a hatchback civic for love nor money.
[and just try buying a crx sometime!!!!] there's loads around, but
people never sell. retention doesn't seem to be a feature of an
unpopular vehicle to me. i think dealers simply repeat the garbage
spewing from the marketing morons that had honda produce red rear turn
signals...

wagons make sense. /way/ more sense than suv's.

 

My guess is they want to ripped people off by selling the "Hybrids." I
laugh at my friends who bought a Toyota Prius Hybrid and is getting
about 50 mpg. I told them my old Honda Civic HX used to give me 40-45
mpg and that's without paying the ridiculous $7,000+ surplus just to
get a "hybrid."

Maybe HX is too efficient. Think about it, if a person only cares
about gas mileage, and he can get a HX for around $15,000; then why
would he want to shell out $22,000 to get a Honda Hybrid? Just so he
can get 5 more mpg?

 

my thoughts exactly.

 

They certainly do.

But US government policy heavily favors SUVs. It didn't mean to, though.
Favoritism was an unintended consequence of attempting to
*punish car owners*. Repeal the favoritism and SUVs may go by the wayside.

Then again, maybe they won't. People like the room, status, and perceived
safety of a big vehicle. People *worldwide* tend strongly to buy big cars
when not prohibited by government social engineering policy from doing so.

American government policy starting in the '70s was, specifically and
explicitly, designed to make people buy cars that were much smaller than
what they traditionally had bought. Since loopholes were left for vehicles
defined as "commercial", automakers saw an opportunity and began marketing
those to car buyers. The first automaker to exploit the loopholes was
American Motors, with its 1980 Eagle 4WD.

Look at the wheelbases, curb weights and engine displacements of modern
SUVs. It's absolutely amazing how close they conform to car buyers'
traditional preferences. In short, nothing has changed over the decades,
just the shape...and the governmental fist-in-your-face.

I believe minivans would stay regardless of policy, as too many people like
their undeniable utility (much more utile than a sport "utility" vehicle).

 

People don't buy hybrids for their mileage per se. They buy them in order
to make a social statement.

 

Make social statement with your votes, not your wallets.

It's more effective that way and last I check it's free to vote.

If we stop putting oil-friendly politicians in office we wouldn't have
an issue now would we?

 

You betcha. Nothing like having all that space, OR all the storage
room, ANd still being able to reach the roof easy enough to put stuff
there.

i only got my first van 18 months ago (previously, i've added a pair
of seats to a small commercial van like a rascal, hiJet or supercarry)
but I won't give them up any time soon. .