"Gordon McGrew" <gRmEcMgOrVeEw@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:bkeajv4culojiflf1pbi1jq9krh1jttbs7@4ax.com...
> 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.

jack of all trades, master of none. theyre pretty good at badge engineering
their trucks, tho.
>
> The pickup segment actually lost share last year. Small pickups
> (where Honda would logically go first) dropped faster than big pickups

lordy, lordy... could the SUV craze be coming to an end? i still see plenty
of small toyotas- in fact, their 4 door tacoma seems to do VERY well. not
too huge, decent "height" so the lil girls can sit high. useable backseat,
for babysitting runs, and a small bed to make it look butch.

> 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?

maybe if they followed toyotas lead? build a world-class mercedes copy, with
an all new V8, make money off that, then recycle those engines into the big
truck? but toyota already had decades of truck technology, so?
>