On Sat, 9 Aug 2003 10:25:54 -0700, "John Horner" <jthorner@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>
>"DTT" <dtmstran@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:697a20b8.0308041041.247bc99@posting.google.c om...
>> Someone heard from the dealership that it will have a 3.8L to keep up
>> with the Quest and Sienna. Make lot of sense, otherwise, Honda will
>> have to drop price to compete. Is it true?
>
>With the redesigned Sienna, Quest and Ford products on the market in 2004 I
>think Honda is going to see a big drop in Odyssey sales. When the new
>Odyssey came out it put a real dent in Sienna. Now the Sienna has topped
>Odyssey in most ways and will take that bite back.
>
>Honda's home market sales in Japan are off big time this year because they
>are not keeping pace with the competition. I suspect we may see the same in
>North America in 2003 or 2004 because Honda always lags in giving the market
>what it wants. Pilot was 5 years late compared to Toyota. Still no Honda
>RWD vehicles or pickup trucks. How can Honda afford to leave the largest
>segment of the No. American market (pickup trucks) to everyone else?
>
>John

It is an obvious myth that Honda (and other makers) have to compete in
every segment to be successful. Honda has been very successful in the
past even when it participated in only a few (or one) segment. OTOH,
GM has been in every segment all along and they have been losing
market share steadily for 25 years.

The pickup segment actually lost share last year. Small pickups
(where Honda would logically go first) dropped faster than big pickups
but the big ones lost share as well. I think Honda has rightly
concluded that, for now, the big money for development of such
vehicles can be invested more profitably on improving its offerings in
segments where it is a proven leader. It has worked in the past. It
is working now. Why wouldn't it work in the future?