Honda's Crosstour is getting the ziggy in favor of the new HR-V. Production at the maker's East Liberty, Ohio, plant will end this Spring.

Honda is killing off the Crosstour version of its Accord line, a model so unpopular most motorists thought it was gone already. The death of the hatch version does have a plus side for Honda which can now squeeze out more of its hot-selling models at its plant in East Liberty, Ohio.

John Mendel, executive vice president, American Honda Co., said the company is also moving production of the Accord Hybrid from the Marysville (Ohio) Auto Plant to the Sayama Plant in Japan. The Crosstour was one of the rare recent missteps by Honda, which has some of the hottest selling products in America, including the sedan version of the Accord.

“This move will allow the East Liberty Plant to focus on meeting demand for the CR-V and a refreshed 2016 Acura RDX and, as announced last month, expand light truck production in early 2017 with the Acura MDX,” Mendel said in a statement.

The transfer of the Accord Hybrid from Marysville to Sayama Plant in Japan allows Marysville focus on building more Accord sedans and coupes as well as the Acura TLX and ILX performance sedans. ILX production began at MAP in February 2015. The highly touted HR-V will be built at the company’s plant in Celaya, Mexico.

Many foreign automakers are struggling to find places to build popular models in North America. Volkswagen, BMW, Hyundai, Kia and Nissan have all expressed concerns about keeping up with demand.

Conversely, the Crosstour, which debuted in 2010, was supposed to help Honda make inroads into the crossover market. However, with a quirky design, it never really gained much traction with consumers and is now being replaced by the HR-V.

(Honda, Nissan trade potshots – warn of troubles ahead. For more, Click Here.)

“The Crosstour was always a bit of an oddball that fit somewhere in between a number of niche categories,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst, Kelley Blue Book, in a statement. “While well-intended, it missed the mark for most consumers, so it is no surprise to see Honda parting ways with its CUV/Wagon/Accord-based offering.”

(Click Here for details about Honda’s new Civic models coming soon.)

However, it’s moving production of the Accord hybrid to Japan that caught the attention of some Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at Autotrader, noted it was likely because volume has dropped. Autotrader’s analysis show hybrid/electric car sales peaked in 2014 – long before gas prices fell – and has dropped in share for every month since then.

(To see more about the plug-in hybrid and EV pricing war, Click Here.)

“There’s little reason to believe sales of vehicles like the Accord Hybrid will grow much any time soon, especially with gas prices predicted to be relatively low for the rest of the year,” she said.

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