Honda's current Crosstour is struggling so the maker plans to reveal a major update in NY next month.
Honda hopes to kick-start one of its more embarrassing failures when it rolls out a new version of the Crosstour crossover at next month’s New York Auto Show.
For the moment, Honda is holding back details on the Crosstour update, but suggests it will reveal a “new exterior styling direction” during its April 4th news conference at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center.
It will need one. Originally launched as the Accord Crosstour, the vehicle followed in the general direction of other recent sedan/CUV body styles, such as the BMW 5-Series GT and X6. But the Honda version was all but universally panned – at least on the design front. The Crosstour did do better in terms of quality and reliability ratings, J.D. Power declaring it the “Highest-Ranked Midsize Crossover/SUV” in the 2011 Initial Quality Survey.
Honda marketers have been struggling to prop up the Crosstour this year. Notably, they abandoned the link to the Accord line, which they felt might have been confusing potential customers. Still, demand has been running in the 100s – barely – not the 1,000s, as Honda had originally hoped.
The new model is expect to be a bit more streamlined, while maintaining the basic coupe-like/crossover layout of the original Crosstour.
Turning the nameplate around is important for Honda not just for the direct sales it could generate but also to show that the once seemingly omnipotent Japanese maker can turn things around on a broader scale.
Honda has suffered a series of setbacks over the last several years. Last year’s Japanese earthquake and tsunami cost it 100s of thousands of units of lost production, sales slumping sharply in the U.S. for 2011 and just beginning to show signs of recovery.
But the maker has also suffered some self-inflicted wounds. It topped the list in terms of the total number of vehicles recalled in the U.S. market last year – and has had a series of embarrassing recalls during the first three months of 2012, as well.
Meanwhile, critics have faulted a number of recent Honda products, including the 2012 Civic, which even the influential Consumer Reports dismissed as a poor follow-up on a long-powerful nameplate. Honda has faced even more serious problems with its niche vehicles, the Crosstour just one of many specialty vehicles to miss the mark. And its Acura brand has been struggling to regain a presence in the hotly competitive luxury car market.
The maker has reportedly ordered major changes to its global product development program. Scoring a hit with the 2013 Honda Crosstour would send a signal that it may be back on the right path.
Regarding a new version of the Crosstour, one question comes to my mind: why bother? Honda would have done much better if they had come out with a new version of the Element (instead of dumping it altogether). They lost my business on that one. I doubt they’ll sell many of the new Crosstours. It’s an unappealing type of vehicle that is both too expensive and too fuel hungry for the current economic climate.
Bryan, I must admit to being a skeptic but there is a market for some vehicles in that curious niche. So, let’s see if Honda does a better job with the update.
Paul E.