How many Honda dealers are there in the Midwest? One thing that I found very surprising in my travels (granted, about 15 years ago...) was that in the Midwest there were very few foreign vehicles on the roads. It was almost like imports were not a purchase option or you'd catch hell from neighbors, coworkers, other drivers (I'm assuming.) Is this still the case? Being born and raised on the west coast, we're accustomed to seeing tons of imports, so for the most part they're accepted. If you average it out per dealer, then the numbers may be low nationwide, but any non-import-friendly areas "drag down" the otherwise high-averaging parts of the country. My dealership didn't seem to have problems moving them. I think I saw some numbers for Honda and the Element was outselling the Ridgeline - that seemed odd to me (being that I'm not in their target audience), though I checked out an Element while waiting around at the dealer and it has some great features.

< And yes, RL's are 75% American & assembled in Canada, but Honda is an import name, and some people will continue to use that as ammunition in their dislike for the brand -- I wonder what they'd say if they took one for a test drive... >

Happy Halloween everyone!

 

It's pretty pricey and the "base" model is really loaded. It's not gonna sell as much because it's target market is so small. It's missing out on a lot of sales to businesses who need work trucks. I think 50,000 a year is pretty good numbers for a car as specialized as the RL.

 

How many Honda dealers are there in the Midwest? One thing that I found very surprising in my travels (granted, about 15 years ago...) was that in the Midwest there were very few foreign vehicles on the roads. It was almost like imports were not a purchase option or you'd catch hell from neighbors, coworkers, other drivers (I'm assuming.) Is this still the case? Being born and raised on the west coast, we're accustomed to seeing tons of imports, so for the most part they're accepted. If you average it out per dealer, then the numbers may be low nationwide, but any non-import-friendly areas "drag down" the otherwise high-averaging parts of the country. My dealership didn't seem to have problems moving them. I think I saw some numbers for Honda and the Element was outselling the Ridgeline - that seemed odd to me (being that I'm not in their target audience), though I checked out an Element while waiting around at the dealer and it has some great features.

< And yes, RL's are 75% American & assembled in Canada, but Honda is an import name, and some people will continue to use that as ammunition in their dislike for the brand -- I wonder they'd say if they took one for a test drive... >

Happy Halloween everyone!

I live in TN and I only have 3 honda dealer within a 1 1/2 drive where I can't drive 5 mins down the highway without seeing at least a dozen of the big 3 dealers competing across the street from each other.

 

It's pretty pricey and the "base" model is really loaded. It's not gonna sell as much because it's target market is so small. It's missing out on a lot of sales to businesses who need work trucks. I think 50,000 a year is pretty good numbers for a car as specialized as the RL.

My dealer doesn't seem to think so. I just drove by their lot on the way back from the store. All of the sudden they have 35 RL's on the lot. There were only 7 last time I looked and only 6 when I bought mine. Do they know something that we don't?

 

Possibly even more evidence of an 85-90 day supply. (which is poor for Honda dealerships) No concrete info but the 35 may have been transferred from a slow area/state to your area in an attempt to move them. This is a relatively slow time of year also.

The RL (or the element when it was first introduced) is not the Mazda miata at its intro or a Cooper mini. Many purchased the 06 RL for 5k off soon after its intro and 5k-6k became commonplace around may-august. Several members have posted purchases of 5-6k off an 07. Yes the dealers are delighted to sell it for 2900 off (around invoice) if the person is a frequent Honda buyer where invoice is usually a good deal for most of their products.

This is smart pricing move by Honda as it assures a bit more profit by a significant # of invoice sales. However these trucks won't move without significant incentives (especially with Honda mostly unadvertised)

Unfortunately, like the Honda Pilot, the RL depreciates about $10000 from list (about 30%) 1st year, similar to many products in this segment, making a $5000 off purchase semi comfortable.


--jjf


All of the sudden they have 35 RL's on the lot

My dealer doesn't seem to think so. I just drove by their lot on the way back from the store. All of the sudden they have 35 RL's on the lot. There were only 7 last time I looked and only 6 when I bought mine. Do they know something that we don't?

 

If its missing out on the 2,000,000 f150's and such Gm and Ford are producing and having financial troubles doing it, along with the Tundra and Titan in an already overcrowded mkt segment, Honda has undoubtedly said "Pass". This makes no mention of the midsize Frontier, Tacoma, etc.

Even at 5k off the Rl, they may make more money on the 140000 Ridgelines and elements produced each year, than the American manufacturers make on 300000 of the "work" trucks.

I think they've wisely used some new manufacturing capability, along with some incremental existing capacity to produce something uniquely targeted for its customers and actually have a high quality offering in this segment. Going after the Bubbas would be futile and not very profitable. They have neither the capacity or desire to do it.

--jjf


It's missing out on a lot of sales to businesses who need work trucks

It's pretty pricey and the "base" model is really loaded. It's not gonna sell as much because it's target market is so small. . I think 50,000 a year is pretty good numbers for a car as specialized as the RL.

 

I am not sure where you guys get these resale figures, but out here the used RL's I have seen are no-way 10K below new cost!!. I have seen about 5K avg with lots-o-miles. The books be damned, look at the market. I wish they had been 10K less, I would have bought one!. I guess I will just have to settle for our new one .

 

Yeah, If I were given the choice between a heavily used RL for 5k off Msrp, and a new one for invoice or better (3k-4k off), I would get the new one too.

My friend who works at SCION sold a lady a 1yr old xb with 15000 mi on it last month for more than the sticker on a new one. And they sell at sticker. Welcome to the world of used cars.

--jjf

I am not sure where you guys get these resale figures, but out here the used RL's I have seen are no-way 10K below new cost!!. I have seen about 5K avg with lots-o-miles. The books be damned, look at the market. I wish they had been 10K less, I would have bought one!. I guess I will just have to settle for our new one .