Taking off for Motown

HONDA will unveil vehicles sitting at both ends of the spectrum at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

First up is a pre-production version of an all-new eight-seat Sport Utility Vehicle - the Honda Pilot - that will go on sale in North America in mid-2002.

To be built in Canada, there are no current plans for a right-hand drive version, according to a Honda Australia spokesperson.

Details are scarce on the Pilot other than it will have LEV V6 power and "boasts a full complement of Honda safety technologies," according to the press material.

Meanwhile, American Honda's luxury division, Acura, will debut its concept hybrid Sport Utility Vehicle, dubbed RD-X, at Detroit. The RD-X is said to combine elements of both a sports coupe and sports utility vehicle.

The RD-X features plenty of high-tech functionality including an adjustable instrument panel, a 2+2 configuration, which can seat four or, with the rear seats folded away, provide ample room for recreational items like bicycles.

An all-wheel drive powertrain combines a high-performance i-VTEC engine with the latest Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system.

Honda adds value

ADDED value will play key role in a Honda Australia plan to boost sales in 2002, as it fights back from a slump this year.

Honda sales are expected to end at about 22,000 this year after setting an all-time record of 30,034 in 2000.

Two new models will play a big role in the sales boost - the second generation CR-V on sale on January 1 and the all-new Jazz small hatchback, which should debut in the third quarter.

The Civic and Accord have suffered an alarming slump in sales in 2001 and Honda Australia director Lindsay Smalley says it is a company priority to get them back on course in 2002.

To the end of November, 6042 Civic Vi five-doors and GLi four-doors had been sold, compared to 7348 of the previous model Civic in 2000.

The Accord has fallen from 2554 sales to the end of November, 2000, to 1800 this year.

The malaise is reflected across the range with all cars except the Integra down from last year - and the Integra is only up six units.

Mr Smalley attributed the sales struggle of the Civic to the lack of a three-door model, customer resistance to the five-door and concern over the lack of ABS on either of the current Civics.

This will be addressed when the 2002 model year Civics go on sale in February with standard ABS. The sedan, which will be built in Thailand at the same Rojana plant as the Accord, will also benefit from standard alloy wheels, body colour exterior mouldings, new interior trim and centre console design.

Mr Smalley said price rises would be minimal at worst on the new Civics.

"We see Civic as our next volume opportunity for 2002, so what we want to do is make that car highly competitive in that small car segment and really start to look for numbers on that vehicle," he said.

"We want value up. So ... we will try and limit increases to an absolute minimum on that car and I can't say at this point whether it will go up or not. But certainly my warm desire would be no price increases." He also said the flexibility of Honda's Thai plant meant that a Type-R version of the sedan could be possible. The British built three-door Type R has been virtually ruled out as being too expensive, probably coming in at around $50,000.

He pointed to the Subaru Impreza WRX as an example of a successful small four-door sedan: "I think there is a place in the market for a high performance five-seater small four-door sedan and I think it picks up a lot of people like mums and dads with one kid looking for a bit of flexibility and fun." Mr Smalley attributed the Accord's tumbling sales to April price rises, which saw the compact prestige sedan's pricing rise by as much as $5000. He said value would be added across the Accord range in an attempt to boost sales.

Expansion plans

* Mr Smalley told media at last week's launch of the CR-V that he would like to dramatically expand the Type-R high-performance range, which in Australia only currently features the Integra. Apart from the Civic, he said the Euro-Accord Type-R was also being investigated, while he would also like to sell Type-R versions of the S2000, NSX and forthcoming Jazz small car.

* The MDX off-roader seems a certainty to come to Australia in 2003 after a substantial makeover to be launched in the US at the start of 2003.

* The HR-V small 4WD remains on the critical list. None have been imported for four months and Mr Smalley said there were currently no plans to import the facelifted version recently launched in Japan.