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Honda says it remains committed to the Civic and Accord passenger-car line-up in Australia despite a sharp sales slowdown.
Honda Australia has defended its under-performing passenger car line-up – the Civic hatchback and Accord sedan – despite plummeting deliveries, as it prepares to expand its SUV portfolio and reverse its current sales slide.
Honda Australia company director Carolyn McMahon says the slow-selling Accord mid-size sedan and Civic small car are not about to be axed even though they accounted for less than one-fifteenth of the Japanese brand’s sales last year.
In the last 18 months, SUVs accounted for 88 per cent of Honda’s sales. Of the 12 per cent passenger-car mix, more than a third of those were the now-discontinued Honda Odyssey people mover which was dropped from the line-up mid-2022.
Honda Australia posted a record low 14,215 sales in 2022 – 861 of those were Honda Civics and 96 were Honda Accords.
Despite these headwinds, Honda Australia says it still has a goal to reach 20,000 sales annually, once it fills out its SUV portfolio.
Although 20,000 annual deliveries would be a 40 per cent improvement on last year’s sales, Honda Australia previously sold a record 60,000 cars in 2007.
When asked if Honda Australia could become an “SUV-only company” Ms McMahon said: “I don’t think so. We want to cater for a wider customer base.
“Obviously we are focusing on SUVs because that’s been the fastest-growing segment of the industry. But with hybrid technology coming in – Civic hybrid, demand for that is pushing right out. People want to get into that car.”
Ms McMahon’s defence of the Accord mid-size sedan – which is due to be replaced by a new model in the US imminently, but is yet to be confirmed for Australia – was not as strong.
“SUV is the focus and the majority of the volume we’re going after. The SUV market continues to be the main market in Australia. So our strategy [is to] really bolster that lineup, and we think in that medium SUV segment we’ll have good interest and good reaction to the Honda ZR-V.”
As for the upcoming Honda ZR-V, four variants will be offered – three powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a fourth range-topping hybrid.
“It’s so exciting for us to be bringing a brand-new nameplate to the market,” said Ms McMahon.
“What we’re really trying to do with our SUV (range) is expand the line-up. So, we do that now with HR-V, Honda ZR-V, and of course the CR-V.”
Honda says it plans to offer a hybrid variant of every SUV it sells locally.
“Because the strategy is ‘hybrid is right for us’ we will look for opportunity to expand. The first step is making sure that we’ve got a hybrid in each model,” said Ms McMahon.
At the moment, the Honda CR-V is the only vehicle in the company’s Australian line-up in Australia without the option of hybrid power.
A new-generation Honda CR-V with a hybrid option was unveiled in the US in September 2022. Right-hand-drive versions were shown at the Bangkok motor show earlier this week in 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol and 2.0-litre petrol-electric hybrid configurations.
Ms McMahon declined to comment on when the current Honda CR-V will be replaced in Australia. She also refused to confirm hybrid timing.
However, the Honda Australia boss did say that Honda may not stop at just one hybrid variant of each SUV model.
“We always have an open mind about what else we can add at different trim levels. I’m not confirming anything here but it’s certainly … we think it’s the right approach to further expand the hybrid range.”
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