A77
 |
|
Who'd a thought that a brand with a pretty crappy image selling tiny cars to North Americans who only buy barges would outsell Buick, Volvo, Infiniti, Mini, Cadillac, Lincoln, Suzuki, and Scion. Well, that's what happened in Canada in April at least.
It sells because it is very cute, is well priced, with lots of deals, is not a stupid hybrid, and has small seats for kids. With little redesign the CRZ could have had this success too - just needs dehybridizing, have ECO and fast versions and seats in the back - OK that might need some redesign - to make them even kids friendly back there. And something needs to be done about its rear visibility. And how about a convertible...
I'll keep taking the pills. But it's so sad that a car as cute as the CRZ is (just as cute as the 500 surely) cannot sell. We have them over $3000 off and still they don't move.
|
Waldo
|
|
I don't know about Canada, but in the US the Fiat 500 is gaining a reputation as a chick car. Nothing wrong with that, as there are a lot of chicks who buy cars. They perceive it as adorable, like a puppy needing a home.
I don't think the CRZ is considered cute. It may appeal to a different kind of chick!
|
Atomic Frog
|
|
Funny, last week my other half saw the CRZ.
"What car is that? Is that a Honda?" Yes indeed, a CRZ.
"It actually looks good!"
(Is that a compliment or insult? :-)
I agree, the CRZ is a pretty decent car and decent looking too. But I will not be getting one. Why not? One single reason, they castrated the back for North America. Yes, you can't fit any normal grown ups back there, but HEY, some of us don't need to fit grown ups back there! I'm not sure what Honda's justification was for axing the back seats when the rest of the world gets 'em in their CRZ's
|
according2kev
|
|
Waldo wrote:
I don't know about Canada, but in the US the Fiat 500 is gaining a reputation as a chick car. Nothing wrong with that, as there are a lot of chicks who buy cars. They perceive it as adorable, like a puppy needing a home.
I don't think the CRZ is considered cute. It may appeal to a different kind of chick!
|
I've heard the comment about the CRZ being a chick's car more than a few times (and I believe it's done just to ruffle feathers) but every time I see one it's driven by a male. I think they look sharp in white.
|
DCR
|
|
I have seen a grand total of 4 CR-Z on the road since launch. A lady in her 60's (at work here) has a silver one. I see a red one on my commute driven by a male that looks to be early 30's and the other two I couldn't see the driver.
Oddly enough, I have seen more Volts.
|
JR
|
|
Honda thought they could appeal to both the sport crowd and the hybrid crowd and ended up appealing to neither.
Neither does it appeal to the urban crowd, where a chunky shape is better for tight parking than a wedge. Here in San Francisco you see a few Minis parked in every block. Even though we still don't have a dealer in the city, The 500s are coming on. I think the added height over the Mini is an advantage too.
I think we are the #1 US market for Fits. This is different from the Mini / 500. More for practicality. Supply is tight, as mentioned elsewhere.
In Canada, especially Quebec, people are more inclined to go for Euro style
|
Hondarulez
|
|
Biggest problem with CR-Z IMO is the lack of rear seats.
Other factors are the lack of trims. Look at the Fiat, it has Pop, Sport, Lounge, Abarth, plus lots of accessories and paint schemes so that customers can personalize their cars. For most young people who aren't really into cars, personalization is quite important.
I don't think the Hybrid part is a negative. The negative part is that there is no non-hybrid trim and no sporty trim.
|
DrWhiner
|
|
Exactly how well Fiat is selling?
|
integrator
|
|
IMO the CRZ suffers from several problems. One thing, you might look past. But added, equals a resounding NO.
1. hybrid-only
2. video game dash/instrument design
3. too small - even for weekend luggage for two.
4. rear torsion-beam suspension- despite tuning, lacks refinement.
|
notyper
|
|
Not well in the US. 3800 units in April which is it's best month ever. That means it got outsold by every compact (Civic class) and subcompact on the market except for the Fit, the Mazda2 and the Suzuki SX4. Even the Yaris outsold it! And I think the Fit (at 3200 units) only fell short because of production shortages.
Fiat dealerships are taking a bath so far. I think there are 135 dealers now? That's less than 30 cars/month/dealer, and most of these dealers are in large metropolitan areas. Here in SoCal the average dealer inventory is close to 200 cars on the lot. I'm also seeing a lot of 500s on rental lots believe it or not. Maybe the dealership guys here can tell us if it is possible to survive in a major metro area selling 1 car/day, especially if its a sub $20k car.
The 500 is less practical than its more mainstream competition, no more fuel efficient, a turd acceleration wise, and it has very polarizing looks. We'll see if the Abarth can do any good, but it gets smacked around pretty soundly by the Cooper S so its already behind the 8-ball.
I totally agree on the chick car label. I've said it before (and really pissed off some fans of the car), but this is the purse dog of small cars. Small, so ugly that some women think its cute, certainly not a working dog (car), and people pay a lot of money for them considering what they're getting. Oh, and judging by some of the long term tests, they still behave like Fiat's reliability wise. Plastic parts breaking, things falling off, some things just stop working.
Fiat should have brought the Panda first IMO, or at least at the same time.
SC
|
rocky
|
|
according2kev wrote:
Waldo wrote:
I don't know about Canada, but in the US the Fiat 500 is gaining a reputation as a chick car. Nothing wrong with that, as there are a lot of chicks who buy cars. They perceive it as adorable, like a puppy needing a home.
I don't think the CRZ is considered cute. It may appeal to a different kind of chick!
|
I've heard the comment about the CRZ being a chick's car more than a few times (and I believe it's done just to ruffle feathers) but every time I see one it's driven by a male. I think they look sharp in white.
|
I'm shocked. You've actually seen on on the road?
|
DrWhiner
|
|
|
TTAC said that dealers are discounting them to $12,995.
|
TonyEX
|
|
DCR wrote:
I have seen a grand total of 4 CR-Z on the road since launch. A lady in her 60's (at work here) has a silver one. I see a red one on my commute driven by a male that looks to be early 30's and the other two I couldn't see the driver.
Oddly enough, I have seen more Volts.
|
There are more Panameras in my neighborhood than CR-Z.
I just saw a Panamera hybrid today. WTH?
|
Road Race
|
|
Another problem with the CRZ is the sight lines.
My 5'6" wife has owned a '87 crx, a '91 crx, and today owns a 2002 civic si. She would have bought a CRZ but she sat in one and quickly realized that she couldn't see out of it. Sorry, no sale Honda.
She is hanging on for the '14 Fit redesign, otherwise she will find something else.
|
|
|
| |
![[home]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/home.gif){kind=small}
![[rumors and news]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/rumors.gif){kind=small}
![[model release matrix]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/newmodelreleasematrix.gif){kind=small}
![[dealer network]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/dealernet.gif){kind=small}
![[desktop calendar]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/calendar.gif){kind=small}
![[exhaust notes]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/exhaust.gif){kind=small}
![[tov forums]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/forums.gif){kind=small}
![[links]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/links.gif){kind=small}
![[search]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/search.gif){kind=small}
![[sponsors]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/sponsors.gif){kind=small}
![[garage]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/garage.gif){kind=small}
![[login]](http://sohc.vtec.net/elem04/login.gif){kind=small}
