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P54
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Why is the new Civic selling so well? Because contrary to all the naysayers it is plain good old Honda quality. Delivering the goods people are asking for. It is not about fashion, however being what Honda has always been known for, good reputable quality with low maintenance cost.
Listen to what one naysayer discovered after driving one:
2012 Honda Civic LX: Just plain good
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2012-honda-civic-lx-just-plain-good/2012/09/27/b4a5c36c-07f3-11e2-a10c-fa5a255a9258_story.html
Sex sells. It also dupes. When duped, you erroneously assess things, especially those, such as cars, requiring some kind of intelligent commitment.
I was duped. I made a dumb mistake back in June 2011 when I opined in this space that the 2012 Honda Civic HF sedan was symptomatic of Honda’s slip from grace in the small-car market.
Here’s my recant, as upfront and as clear as I can make it: The Honda Civic is still the one.
I’ve come to that conclusion after 350 mostly commuter miles in a rented 2012 Honda Civic LX sedan — a close-to-basic front-wheel-drive compact sedan outfitted with an optional five-speed automatic transmission.
In truth, I wanted to rent something snazzier — a Kia Optima or Hyundai Sonata, a Chevrolet Cruze or Ford Focus, a new Dodge Dart if possible, or a Volkswagen Jetta TDi — an automobile “with personality.”
Having months ago relegated the Honda Civic to the “also-ran” files of my automotive mind, I did not consider a Civic. But a Civic LX sedan, replete with cloth seats and industrial-grade vinyl, was all that remained in my weekly rental price range (up to $225) on a Northern Virginia Enterprise Rent-a-Car lot.
I took the deal. I’m glad I did. It turned out to be what I needed to regain perspective.
Several months before driving the deliberately pedestrian Civic HF, I had been stunned by all of the neat stuff global automobile companies were installing in their little cars. These welcome changes included super-attractive styling inside and out. Finally, I thought, automobile manufacturers have learned that “compact” and “ugly” don’t mean the same thing.
It was a fair assessment carried too far, one that ignored the inherent, long-lasting beauty of one of the world’s best-selling small cars, the Honda Civic. In comparison with its sexier rivals, the 2012 Civic HF I drove in the summer of 2011 was dowdy. I was disappointed, and in my disappointment I ignored the Civic HF’s primary reason for being — to deliver its namesake “high fuel” economy, and to do so using the simplest styling and inexpensive but still high-quality materials.
The 2012 Honda Civic LX sedan rented a year later also came with lots of plastic — genuine, plastic-is-plastic plastic that did little to lift the spirits, but made it exceptionally easy to lift stains and smudges with a little soap and water. The cloth seats were equally easy to clean. The entire interior, in fact, was expressly designed for hard use and easy maintenance.
The upshot: After a bit more than 17,000 miles on the road and 10 months’ use before coming into my hands, the interior of the rented 2012 Honda Civic LX still looked and felt new. That is the kind of stuff that high resale values are made of.
Most of us don’t rent compact economy cars to set speed records. I rented the 2012 Civic LX to complete several regional errands before taking off this week for the Paris Auto Show. I was pleasantly surprised. In several runs up and down Interstate 66 in Virginia, the Civic LX’s 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (140 horsepower, 128 foot-pounds of torque) performed beautifully — very little downshifting, no asthmatic behavior in higher elevations, enough passing power when needed, and decent fuel economy at 28 miles per gallon in the city and 39 mpg on the highway.
It was an economic blessing that the rented Civic LX was designed to do its best work on regular-grade gasoline.
The more I drove that car, the more I loved it, and the more I understood why so many people love the Honda Civic even though, I still maintain, it has been surpassed by so many rivals in exterior and interior styling.
Even after having been battered by multiple drivers over more than 17,000 miles, the Civic LX worked flawlessly. Fit and finish remained impressive — no shakes, no rattles and only one missing part (a piece of sound-deadening, wind-blocking rubber absent from under the right side of the hood). The Civic LX was a cinch to maneuver and park in tight urban traffic. It even did well over the many speed bumps — meeting them at posted speeds without rattling the nerves of driver or passengers — that seem to abound in affluent Northern Virginia neighborhoods.
Lastly, there was this: Like it or not, and I’m still trying to decide, the quality of today’s cars is determined almost as much by the quality of their infotainment/communication systems as by anything else. In that regard, Honda’s patented i-MID (intelligent Multi-Information Display) system is at the top of its class. It is intuitive, easy-to-use and truly informative — keeping the driver aware of everything going on with the car and the world through which it is moving.
The rented Honda Civic LX did not come with the optional onboard navigation system and backup camera. But the Enterprise people included a Garmin portable navigation system for a small fee. That worked perfectly. I love backup cameras and think they will become standard safety equipment soon. But getting out and checking around the car before taking off, and checking the rear-view mirror before backing out, worked well, too.
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Hondarulez
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I don't think Honda has "forgetten" how to make good cars, and in this case, a good compact car.
The 9g Civic, as I've always said, is a solid choice in its segment. People think it's not good mostly because the competition has been trying new things with their own products, such as flashy styling and tons of features (at a higher price).
Honda probably over-reacted to the economy situation with the Civic and went a bit too conservative with things.
I think Honda can afford to charge a bit more to improve feature contents (add another trim perhaps?), use even higher quality interior material. and upgrade to CVT/6AT/ED.
With some changes, I'm sure not only can the Civic continually enjoy sales success, but it can also get more praises from the media.
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longhorn
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Why is this Civic LX at Enterprise in the first place?
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BachelorFrog
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dafuq did i just read
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superchg2
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Just imagine what the mmc 2013 Civic will be like!
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DCR
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longhorn wrote:
Why is this Civic LX at Enterprise in the first place?
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Oh, the irony.
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xBeastx
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P54 wrote:
The rented Honda Civic LX did not come with the optional onboard navigation system and backup camera.
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Optional backup camera? First of all, the 2012 Civic has no backup camera option, and, second of all, the 2013 Civic is supposedly getting a standard backup camera on all trims (assuming it follows Honda's new pattern), but....
Ahh never mind, it was probably just bad wording.
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dampflok
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DCR wrote:
longhorn wrote:
Why is this Civic LX at Enterprise in the first place?
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atomiclightbulb
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That's exactly what I've been saying for the past 18 months. The 9G Civic is basically a solid compact car. It's not flashy, but as a complete package, it works very well.
+ The R18+5AT powertrain is smooth, has competitive performance in the segment, and delivers on real world fuel economy.
+ Interior fit and finish is excellent. I don't favor the design or materials choices, but the actual craftsmanship of the interior is very precise.
+ Ride quality is good. Everyone says this. Even this naysayer. Well, everyone but Consumer Reports. Having driven the 9G Civic EX over local roads, I am pretty sure that CR got this wrong and everyone else got it right.
Combine all this with a very spacious cabin and top safety ratings, and the Civic holds its own. Buy the Cruze, and you give up the large back seat and fuel economy. Buy the Focus, and you get a cramped cabin. Buy the Elantra, give up ride quality, real world fuel economy, and rear seat headroom. Buy the Mazda3, give up interior space, and gain a power grinnum grille (admittedly, the Mazda3's MMC powertrain is very good, and it is sporty). Buy the Corolla, and you are buying a car that is really past its prime.
Could Honda have done better? Sure.
My chief complaints with the 9G Civic is that it should have sportier handling, the dash geometry is awkward, and it needs more small storage spaces.
But in the context of its competitors, the only one that stands out as having the same good mix of balance is the Subaru Impreza, which trades fuel economy for AWD. The Subaru is not very pretty, but it has lots of space inside, excellent driver visibility, and good ride quality. The Impreza exhibits the same "Man maximum, machine minimum" quality as Honda designs, so its no surprise that it sells much better than the previous generation Impreza. Honda is lucky Subaru isn't a high volume competitor.
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DCR
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Honda doesn't like rental sales. It cheapens the brand and lowers resale.
Car reviewer gives Honda a redemption ass-kiss article in a major online publication.
In a rental.
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CarPhreakD
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Well, the Civic has been selling like hotcakes... mostly because it's cheap and does everything somewhat well.
But it's not like Honda couldn't have taken the Accord approach (i.e. offering bang for buck in the sense that you FEEL like you're getting WAY MORE for your money) with the Civic. I'm honestly not expecting much from the MMC.
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sugaki
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atomiclightbulb wrote:
That's exactly what I've been saying for the past 18 months. The 9G Civic is basically a solid compact car. It's not flashy, but as a complete package, it works very well.
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The Toyota Corolla is a solid compact car to, made extremely well. It does its job--get you from point A to point B.
What made the Civic a Civic wasn't just that it was "solid," but exceptional. Nobody ever said the 9G is a terrible car. Drive the Fiat 500 and you experience a terrible car.
It's not a bad car, but it's a bad Civic. It lost so many of the key traits that garnered loyalty over the years. The Ford Focus interior for example blows the Civic out of the park--that was unthinkable in past years. Underwhelming i-MID not withstanding, technologically it's got less frills than an Elantra.
Somebody actually brought up Civic sales? Yeah, how about that--Honda's rebates on the Civic quintupled since its introduction last April.
http://pdf.reuters.com/pdfnews/pdfnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=2012_02_15_04_45_9d0bdf3572b2437badaa59b4a0f82e60_PRIMARY.gif
Bean-counting CEO Ito didn't want to pay an extra ~15% on soft-touch dash materials, and then they give money away to get more people to buy their cars. Sounds like a resounding success to me.
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atomiclightbulb
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sugaki wrote:
Somebody actually brought up Civic sales? Yeah, how about that--Honda's rebates on the Civic quintupled since its introduction last April.
http://pdf.reuters.com/pdfnews/pdfnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=2012_02_15_04_45_9d0bdf3572b2437badaa59b4a0f82e60_PRIMARY.gif |
This was discussed extensively in another thread:
http://www.vtec.net/forums/one-message?message_id=1044083&page_number=2&news_item_id=1044014
The problem with that graph is that it includes low APR financing as part of the incentive. With interest rates generally so low right now, this is to be expected.
TXsalesguy, who actually sells Honda vehicles, stated in his post @ 03-05-2012 17:13 that there was NO cash rebate on any Honda through March '12.
Fan Koni in his post @ 03-05-2012 02:00 detailed his truecar.com seach, which reported no manufacturer incentives or rebates for the 9G Civic.
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dampflok
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DCR wrote:
Honda doesn't like rental sales. It cheapens the brand and lowers resale.
Car reviewer gives Honda a redemption ass-kiss article in a major online publication.
In a rental. |
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Hondarulez
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sugaki wrote:
atomiclightbulb wrote:
That's exactly what I've been saying for the past 18 months. The 9G Civic is basically a solid compact car. It's not flashy, but as a complete package, it works very well.
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The Toyota Corolla is a solid compact car to, made extremely well. It does its job--get you from point A to point B.
What made the Civic a Civic wasn't just that it was "solid," but exceptional. Nobody ever said the 9G is a terrible car. Drive the Fiat 500 and you experience a terrible car.
It's not a bad car, but it's a bad Civic. It lost so many of the key traits that garnered loyalty over the years. The Ford Focus interior for example blows the Civic out of the park--that was unthinkable in past years. Underwhelming i-MID not withstanding, technologically it's got less frills than an Elantra.
Somebody actually brought up Civic sales? Yeah, how about that--Honda's rebates on the Civic quintupled since its introduction last April.
http://pdf.reuters.com/pdfnews/pdfnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=2012_02_15_04_45_9d0bdf3572b2437badaa59b4a0f82e60_PRIMARY.gif
Bean-counting CEO Ito didn't want to pay an extra ~15% on soft-touch dash materials, and then they give money away to get more people to buy their cars. Sounds like a resounding success to me.
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I don't know man...I think the 7G Civic was a terrible Civic too.......
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sugaki
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Hondarulez wrote:
sugaki wrote:
atomiclightbulb wrote:
That's exactly what I've been saying for the past 18 months. The 9G Civic is basically a solid compact car. It's not flashy, but as a complete package, it works very well.
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The Toyota Corolla is a solid compact car to, made extremely well. It does its job--get you from point A to point B.
What made the Civic a Civic wasn't just that it was "solid," but exceptional. Nobody ever said the 9G is a terrible car. Drive the Fiat 500 and you experience a terrible car.
It's not a bad car, but it's a bad Civic. It lost so many of the key traits that garnered loyalty over the years. The Ford Focus interior for example blows the Civic out of the park--that was unthinkable in past years. Underwhelming i-MID not withstanding, technologically it's got less frills than an Elantra.
Somebody actually brought up Civic sales? Yeah, how about that--Honda's rebates on the Civic quintupled since its introduction last April.
http://pdf.reuters.com/pdfnews/pdfnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=2012_02_15_04_45_9d0bdf3572b2437badaa59b4a0f82e60_PRIMARY.gif
Bean-counting CEO Ito didn't want to pay an extra ~15% on soft-touch dash materials, and then they give money away to get more people to buy their cars. Sounds like a resounding success to me.
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I don't know man...I think the 7G Civic was a terrible Civic too.......
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I had a 7G, and dynamics wise it's pretty run-of-the-mill. The Si sucked with its underwhelming powerplant, but the fit/finish and quality I think is superior to the 9G.
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Hondarulez
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sugaki wrote:
Hondarulez wrote:
sugaki wrote:
atomiclightbulb wrote:
That's exactly what I've been saying for the past 18 months. The 9G Civic is basically a solid compact car. It's not flashy, but as a complete package, it works very well.
|
The Toyota Corolla is a solid compact car to, made extremely well. It does its job--get you from point A to point B.
What made the Civic a Civic wasn't just that it was "solid," but exceptional. Nobody ever said the 9G is a terrible car. Drive the Fiat 500 and you experience a terrible car.
It's not a bad car, but it's a bad Civic. It lost so many of the key traits that garnered loyalty over the years. The Ford Focus interior for example blows the Civic out of the park--that was unthinkable in past years. Underwhelming i-MID not withstanding, technologically it's got less frills than an Elantra.
Somebody actually brought up Civic sales? Yeah, how about that--Honda's rebates on the Civic quintupled since its introduction last April.
http://pdf.reuters.com/pdfnews/pdfnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=2012_02_15_04_45_9d0bdf3572b2437badaa59b4a0f82e60_PRIMARY.gif
Bean-counting CEO Ito didn't want to pay an extra ~15% on soft-touch dash materials, and then they give money away to get more people to buy their cars. Sounds like a resounding success to me.
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I don't know man...I think the 7G Civic was a terrible Civic too.......
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I had a 7G, and dynamics wise it's pretty run-of-the-mill. The Si sucked with its underwhelming powerplant, but the fit/finish and quality I think is superior to the 9G.
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Yea, it feels like the 9G is sort of like the 7G....not the best from Honda.....just solid.
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