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Waldo
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From this video description, we learn that no sheet metal was changed. Why did they wait three years to make these small plastic parts changes?
Certainly they had to have known within a few months of introduction that the 2009 TL was a styling disaster. There was unanimous criticism in the automotive press, as well as on this, and other Internet forums. Was management stubbornly hanging on to the belief that, given time, the buying public would accept it? Did they feel that it was better to wait for the styling change until the new transmission and engine enhancements were ready?
These changes should have been the 2011 model introduced in April 2010. This would have allowed the TL to be part of the increased sales that Acura (and other auto makers) enjoyed this last year.
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gogzy
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just a wild guess.... probably someone shackup high on the top of inside Acura.... maybe some loss the battle and already left the company, and so the change can took place. i also notice how tov was flooded with these news about minor tweak on TL, lots of attentions for just mid cycle update on a single car!! but its all good!!
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s2kx2
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Maybe it was as simple as some folks have a hard time admitting they were wrong. I am sure somebody's head rolled on this choice but now the car is greatly improved. I am curious as to where Acura will go when the time comes to re-design the TL once again.
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TonyEX
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Likely a matter of money, resources and priorities.
The company knew the car was not liked. They knew they had a problem... BUT the economy was going into a tailspin and HMC/AHM were forced to slash costs. At least the MDX and TSX were selling so the dealers made some money in an otherwise dismal marketplace.
The TL has never been a huge seller and likely not a huge revenue generator... and HMC/AHM were re-redesigning the Civic, which is crucial to the company.
Also, it might be that the type of redesign took some time to develop. Note how they effected tremendous change by simply changing the bumpers and not modifying the bodywork? That type of design and engineering takes time. Normally you spend a lot of non recurring expenses to ensure that the recurring expenses don't kill you.
As an armchair quarterback you can say: "hey it's simple"... but to reach that simplicity likely required a lot of careful and coordinated thinking by a lot of people.
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longhorn
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While we may never know how much money Acura could have made if this was done a year earlier(I am sure those in Acura do not want to think about it either). These may be reason why?
1. Honda/Acura always do their MMC in the third year. Why mess with tradition. Even the 7G Accord waited to the third year before its MMC which boosted sales.
2.The present Honda Accord styling was criticized too, yet sales have not been effected. Maybe those higher up were expecting the same,the market would eventually accept it.
3. OEMs, making a new mold or jig for the bumpers or lights are not cheap. Breaking OEM contracts are not cheap either.
4. Resale value, if Honda jumped in the second year of production and did a mmc, then the first year resale value would have went into the toilet. One of the many good things about Honda, they care about resale values.
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Waldo
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longhorn wrote:
While we may never know how much money Acura could have made if this was done a year earlier(I am sure those in Acura do not want to think about it either). These may be reason why?
1. Honda/Acura always do their MMC in the third year. Why mess with tradition. Even the 7G Accord waited to the third year before its MMC which boosted sales.
2.The present Honda Accord styling was criticized too, yet sales have not been effected. Maybe those higher up were expecting the same,the market would eventually accept it.
3. OEMs, making a new mold or jig for the bumpers or lights are not cheap. Breaking OEM contracts are not cheap either.
4. Resale value, if Honda jumped in the second year of production and did a mmc, then the first year resale value would have went into the toilet. One of the many good things about Honda, they care about resale values.
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Comments by point number:
1. In 1996 Honda did a much more extensive MMC on the Accord after two years. This was in answer to complaints about the small size of the trunk opening. They changed the rear fender sheet metal, the trunk lid, and rear window shape. In the body framework, the trunk opening and the rear window opening were extensively modified.
2. The present Accord has not been criticized as unacceptably ugly by most of the public. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it does not offend.
3. OEMs will jump through hoops to keep being Honda OEMs. That's not an issue.
4. They now have 2 1/2 years of production that will have toilet worthy resale value, instead of 1 1/2 years.
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Colin
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Waldo wrote:
longhorn wrote:
While we may never know how much money Acura could have made if this was done a year earlier(I am sure those in Acura do not want to think about it either). These may be reason why?
1. Honda/Acura always do their MMC in the third year. Why mess with tradition. Even the 7G Accord waited to the third year before its MMC which boosted sales.
2.The present Honda Accord styling was criticized too, yet sales have not been effected. Maybe those higher up were expecting the same,the market would eventually accept it.
3. OEMs, making a new mold or jig for the bumpers or lights are not cheap. Breaking OEM contracts are not cheap either.
4. Resale value, if Honda jumped in the second year of production and did a mmc, then the first year resale value would have went into the toilet. One of the many good things about Honda, they care about resale values.
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Comments by point number:
1. In 1996 Honda did a much more extensive MMC on the Accord after two years. This was in answer to complaints about the small size of the trunk opening. They changed the rear fender sheet metal, the trunk lid, and rear window shape. In the body framework, the trunk opening and the rear window opening were extensively modified.
2. The present Accord has not been criticized as unacceptably ugly by most of the public. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it does not offend.
3. OEMs will jump through hoops to keep being Honda OEMs. That's not an issue.
4. They now have 2 1/2 years of production that will have toilet worthy resale value, instead of 1 1/2 years.
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1. Consider that the Accord sells 400k units vs. the TL volume which is 30-70K at best.
3. I agree, it's most likely not OEMs but Honda not wanting to spend money before recouping the investment on the current jigs
Yes, there would have been better marketplace acceptance, but the reality is, this is probably the soonest they could do it. The car was released in fall 2008 right? 2009 was a disaster and nobody was building or buying cars. They probably had a dilemma, is it the styling or the economy? With the economy doing slightly better in 2010 they got the answer. Solution? Build a short run of 2011s and release the 2012 in the spring. And here we are.
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Blue_Sky_surfer
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Colin wrote:
Waldo wrote:
longhorn wrote:
While we may never know how much money Acura could have made if this was done a year earlier(I am sure those in Acura do not want to think about it either). These may be reason why?
1. Honda/Acura always do their MMC in the third year. Why mess with tradition. Even the 7G Accord waited to the third year before its MMC which boosted sales.
2.The present Honda Accord styling was criticized too, yet sales have not been effected. Maybe those higher up were expecting the same,the market would eventually accept it.
3. OEMs, making a new mold or jig for the bumpers or lights are not cheap. Breaking OEM contracts are not cheap either.
4. Resale value, if Honda jumped in the second year of production and did a mmc, then the first year resale value would have went into the toilet. One of the many good things about Honda, they care about resale values.
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Comments by point number:
1. In 1996 Honda did a much more extensive MMC on the Accord after two years. This was in answer to complaints about the small size of the trunk opening. They changed the rear fender sheet metal, the trunk lid, and rear window shape. In the body framework, the trunk opening and the rear window opening were extensively modified.
2. The present Accord has not been criticized as unacceptably ugly by most of the public. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it does not offend.
3. OEMs will jump through hoops to keep being Honda OEMs. That's not an issue.
4. They now have 2 1/2 years of production that will have toilet worthy resale value, instead of 1 1/2 years.
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1. Consider that the Accord sells 400k units vs. the TL volume which is 30-70K at best.
3. I agree, it's most likely not OEMs but Honda not wanting to spend money before recouping the investment on the current jigs
Yes, there would have been better marketplace acceptance, but the reality is, this is probably the soonest they could do it. The car was released in fall 2008 right? 2009 was a disaster and nobody was building or buying cars. They probably had a dilemma, is it the styling or the economy? With the economy doing slightly better in 2010 they got the answer. Solution? Build a short run of 2011s and release the 2012 in the spring. And here we are.
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aznxthuggie
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longhorn wrote:
While we may never know how much money Acura could have made if this was done a year earlier(I am sure those in Acura do not want to think about it either). These may be reason why?
1. Honda/Acura always do their MMC in the third year. Why mess with tradition. Even the 7G Accord waited to the third year before its MMC which boosted sales.
2.The present Honda Accord styling was criticized too, yet sales have not been effected. Maybe those higher up were expecting the same,the market would eventually accept it.
3. OEMs, making a new mold or jig for the bumpers or lights are not cheap. Breaking OEM contracts are not cheap either.
4. Resale value, if Honda jumped in the second year of production and did a mmc, then the first year resale value would have went into the toilet. One of the many good things about Honda, they care about resale values.
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Hmm I'd hope honda execs (or those "higher up") are smart enough not to apply the same principal to two completely different segments of the market.
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