Honda to Sell New Subcompact in U.S.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) - January 28, 2004
Motor Trend
Japan's Honda Motor Co. will start selling a 1.3- litre subcompact in the United States as early as this year to compete with its South Korean rivals, a leading Japanese financial daily reported Thursday.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Honda expected to sell the model at about 10,000 dollars, cheaper than its Civic, which is priced at 13,000 to 20,000 dollars for models with 1.3- to 2-litre engines.
Honda and other Japanese automakers have long dominated the subcompact field in the U.S. market but are now facing stiff competition from the Hyundai Motor Co. of South Korea.
The South Korean automaker's market share in the United States grew to 5.7 per cent in 2003 from 1.8 per cent in 1998.
According to the report, the new subcompact to be introduced will be based on Honda's Fit subcompact, which is popular in Japan, and the automaker expected annual sales of 50,000 units.
Honda is considering exporting the vehicles from Japan but might produce them in Brazil instead if the dollar continues to trade below 110 yen and makes exports from Japan less profitable or even loss- making, the report said.
Meanwhile, Honda's spokeswoman Yuriko Yabe denied the report from Tokyo, saying nothing had been decided.
Honda sold 1.35 million new cars in the United States last year, an increase of 8 per cent on the year and a record.
that last sentence rules!!!
