Ridgeline USA sales by calendar year...

Chancellor · Mar 7, 2013

Marketing resources are entirely absent. HONDA does not promote the Ridge. Even my dealer "hides" them! Literally.........the inventory is not on the main lot, but in a small lot that is difficult to access AND NOT visible from any street view.

New RTL 2012 in February.....

speedlever · Mar 7, 2013

Chancellor said:
Marketing resources are entirely absent. HONDA does not promote the Ridge. Even my dealer "hides" them! Literally.........the inventory is not on the main lot, but in a small lot that is difficult to access AND NOT visible from any street view.

New RTL 2012 in February.....

Same here. Puzzling, it is.

oarnold · Mar 7, 2013

John's Ridge said:
What is frustrating with this is that Honda refuses to advertise the RL. ...

Frustration understood. Ridgeline advertising has been a weak spot in the history of the RL. But of late, RLs are assembled to fill out the production shifts when they've made quota of Pilots and Odysseys. They sell every one they make, so Honda is happy the way things are. With the spin down of this generation, there's no way you'll see a corporate dollar spent advertising the Ridge in the near future.

K-Dog7469 · Mar 9, 2013

I see a parallel with consumer spending in general.

Ian Brantford · Mar 9, 2013

oarnold said:
Frustration understood. Ridgeline advertising has been a weak spot in the history of the RL. But of late, RLs are assembled to fill out the production shifts when they've made quota of Pilots and Odysseys. They sell every one they make, so Honda is happy the way things are. With the spin down of this generation, there's no way you'll see a corporate dollar spent advertising the Ridge in the near future.

Yes. After Honda did some bonkers advertising and let Ridgeline sales fall dramatically (even in proportion to other models, recession or not), it became a Catch-22. There doesn't seem to be a point in trying to increase sales until there is an expansion of production capability. That is in the works, and we'll just have to wait and see.

Spoot · Mar 9, 2013

We should make our own RL commercials.
See if Honda catches onto the idea...

Here's my first script/plan:

camera showing a couple at a home improvement store parking lot. The guy is lifting a new crosscut saw into the bed of the truck and asks the wife to help lift it up over/past the lowered tailgate of his truck. He's struggling to heave it over. just then, the wife smacks his shoulder and points to a RL owner doing the same thing by himself as he just places it in the bad with his tailgate swung to the side....The man looks up and you here him say under his breath... 'That's Cool'. The wife has a look like "~Humph~ Why didn't you buy one of those?"

Fade to stock photo of an RL in a hilly area with sunset on background....fade in Honda logo.
<Kevin Spacey's voice over> "The 2013 Honda Ridgeline. We think it's cool, too"

--------------
15 second spot.
Could add one or two other 'cool' moments of similar experiences to get to a 30 second spot

MikeT · Mar 9, 2013

Spoot said:
We should make our own RL commercials.
See if Honda catches onto the idea...

Here's my first script/plan:

camera showing a couple at a home improvement store parking lot. The guy is lifting a new crosscut saw into the bed of the truck and asks the wife to help lift it up over/past the lowered tailgate of his truck. He's struggling to heave it over. just then, the wife smacks his shoulder and points to a RL owner doing the same thing by himself as he just places it in the bad with his tailgate swung to the side....The man looks up and you here him say under his breath... 'That's Cool'. The wife has a look like "~Humph~ Why didn't you buy one of those?"

Fade to stock photo of an RL in a hilly area with sunset on background....fade in Honda logo.
<Kevin Spacey's voice over> "The 2013 Honda Ridgeline. We think it's cool, too"

--------------
15 second spot.
Could add one or two other 'cool' moments of similar experiences to get to a 30 second spot

Unfortunately, spoot, Honda does not give a ssssss about what we think.

frndrfoe · Mar 10, 2013

I got a rare one! ca-ching!

Spoot · Mar 10, 2013

next commercial:

4 guys walking back from a round of golf, they are standing next to one guys truck, when they notice it's starting to rain. One guy looks at his clubs - then looks at the open bed of the truck they are using...he says "I just bought these clubs, I don't want to throw them in the back of this"...
<next scene> 4 guys in the crew cab truck with all of their golf clubs stuck between their legs, hiding their faces.
the 'new club' guy says with a disheartened voice "Cool truck".

<new scene, back at the country club> 4 new guys walk to the RL. One says the same thing about having new clubs. The owner says "No problem".
He swings the tailgate open....opens the trunk and begins loading all the clubs in the trunk. 'Rain guy' says with surprise and gratitude in his voice "Now THAT'S Cool"

Fade to stock photo of an RL in a hilly area with sunset on background....fade in Honda logo.
<Kevin Spacey's voice over> "The 2013 Honda Ridgeline. We think it's cool, too"

Spoot · Mar 10, 2013

maybe the tag-line should be - "It's time for you to consider one"

boston · Mar 10, 2013

I've owned two trouble-free Ridgeline's (06 that I leased and an 09 that I purchased). I traded in my 09 last year for a jeep wrangler (which is very cool) but I'm already missing the great ride and functionality of the RL. I agree 100% with the advertising comments and the "back of the lot" comments, and I'd absolutely consider my third RL if I ever got some reassurance that honda was committed to that outstanding vehicle, as opposed to treating it like a poor step-child.

Matt08RTL · Mar 10, 2013

I read a lot on here about Honda not advertising but really when was the last time you saw an advertising campaign by any manufacturer that wasn't for a new or redesigned model? GM doesn't advertise the Avalanche either. It seems the big 3 half tons are the only vehicles to get constant ad time. It's rare to see a car commercial with out "the new" in front of it.

surfingwta · Mar 14, 2013

I had no idea they sold that many Ridgelines in years 05-08.
Those are respectable numbers although the following years are not that great.
Although I just bought mine and love it, a redesign would probably do wonders for sales.

Ian Brantford · Mar 14, 2013

Ian Brantford said:
Does anyone have the Canadian sales figures? I see a LOT of them around Ottawa. In the last couple of years, I have seen more Ridgelines than Avalanches.

Answering my own question:

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01/honda-ridgeline-sales-figures.html

For those first years of good sales, Canadian sales tracked American ones at the expected rate of 10% (roughly proportional to population). Ever since sales fell off in the US, Canadian rates stayed more steady and are closer to 20% of US rates.

I am not sure if that applies to all vehicles (more stable economy during recession), or if it points to a penchant for we Canucks to keep more interest in unusual vehicles. Here's the chart for Avalanche, showing a similar pattern: http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01/chevrolet-avalanche-sales-figures.html .

All I can observe personally are that I see more Ridgelines around Ottawa now than I did in 2009, my first year of ownership. When I was picking it up, the salesman said that his dealership's Ridgeline sales were way up but he couldn't figure out why.

oarnold · Jun 27, 2013

As of the end of May, Honda has sold 7,448 RLs. At this rate, they will sell more RLs than any year since 2008, and would be the fifth best sales year of its history.

If they keep making them, of course...

USMCVietVet67 · Jun 28, 2013

boston said:
I've owned two trouble-free Ridgeline's (06 that I leased and an 09 that I purchased). I traded in my 09 last year for a jeep wrangler (which is very cool) but I'm already missing the great ride and functionality of the RL. I agree 100% with the advertising comments and the "back of the lot" comments, and I'd absolutely consider my third RL if I ever got some reassurance that honda was committed to that outstanding vehicle, as opposed to treating it like a poor step-child.

I also have a Jeep wrangler unlimited 04 with only 34k miles that will be for sale when i get to where it is in Arizona this fall--we bought a second Ridgeline and no longer need the Jeep Ridgies rid better any way--the 06 will go to Arizona--

Ridgeline USA sales by calendar year...

Chancellor

speedlever

oarnold

K-Dog7469

Ian Brantford

Spoot

MikeT

frndrfoe

Spoot

Spoot

boston

Matt08RTL

surfingwta

Ian Brantford

oarnold

USMCVietVet67

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