[T Mac]

05/01/2009 - TORRANCE, Calif. -

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., posted April vehicle sales of 101,029, a decline of 25.3 percent* compared to April 2008, the company reported today. Honda Division posted April sales of 92,216, a decline of 24.5 percent compared to April 2008.

"Overall sales are, by far, the highest we have seen so far this year," said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda. "The Honda lineup represents a unique combination of fun, versatile and efficient cars with great resale that deliver at a time when consumer purchases are more calculated than ever."

Honda Division total car sales decreased by 17.7 percent, to 61,778. Honda Division light-truck sales decreased 35.4 percent, to 30,438. Notably, the division posted four individual vehicle records in April 2008, as sales were up 1.4 percent in an industry down 7.2 percent.

The Acura Division posted sales of 8,813, a decline of 32.3 percent compared to April 2008. The TL performance luxury sedan led the division with sales of 3,105, and the redesigned TSX sports sedan year-to-date sales of 9,684 are up 5.7 percent**.

*The daily selling rate is calculated with 26 days for April 2009 and for April 2008. All percentages reflect the daily selling rate.
**Based on daily selling rate, calculated with 101 days for 2009 and 102 days for 2008.

 

[psschmied]

Isn't it a little unusual that EXACTLY 1000 Elements were sold last month?

 

[sloweddie]

1000 is just a number like 486.
se

 

[jdiane]

Down 65%? <sigh> :-(
Should we start a poll for the date that Honda will announce the end of the Element? :-(

 

[psschmied]

1000 is just a number like 486.
se

They stopped making 486's a LONG time ago. 1000 looks like a trumped up number to justify some marketing decision.

 

[Buckskincolt]

Down 65%? <sigh> :-(
Should we start a poll for the date that Honda will announce the end of the Element? :-(

How are they supposed to sell something the dealers don't have? I've been looking for a 09 EX FWD in a 100 mile radius and NO Dealers have one, zip, zero, none. It's a wonder they even sold 1000, probably 08's? I think the E will change in 2010 to the crossroad or something similar, guess I'll look at the KIA Soul.:-(

 

[psschmied]

How are they supposed to sell something the dealers don't have? I've been looking for a 09 EX FWD in a 100 mile radius and NO Dealers have one, zip, zero, none. It's a wonder they even sold 1000, probably 08's? I think the E will change in 2010 to the crossroad or something similar, guess I'll look at the KIA Soul.:-(

I 'm at a loss to understand how Honda 'thinks". Last time I checked they were renting space in a Ford warehouse to store Elements. I suspect they are trying to flush out the last of the 2008's from the dealer network, or perhaps they are retrofitting the 09's to make them dog-worthy.

If I were looking for a substitute for the Element, I'd start with the CR-V and then see if I could find a closer fit. The Soul is in a different category entirely, closer to the Fit .

 

[CatskillE]

Isn't it a little unusual that EXACTLY 1000 Elements were sold last month?

I have one dealer (where I bought my E), that sells them like crazy..constantly has 10-15 in inventory and they're gone before month's end. The other Honda dealer 15 miles away barely sells 2-3 per month.

I hope they keep it in the lineup, and make the necessary changes to energize sales.

 

[ediamiam]

I checked autotrader for E's in N. Calif. I80 corridor. Appears to be a number of them out there, although no dealer typically has more than 1/2 doz or so. But the Davis dealership seems to have moved only 1 since I test drove early April. N.Calif has the population base, but they don't seem to be moving

 

[psschmied]

May Element sales up 37.8% over last month

(While Honda total unit sales dropped from last month's levels, sales of Elements rose)

06/02/2009 - TORRANCE, Calif. -

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., posted May total vehicle sales of 98,344, a decline of 39.2 percent compared to all-time record-setting May 2008 results. Year-to-date sales of 430,358 represent a 33.3 percent decrease on a daily-selling-rate basis* compared to last year.

Honda Division posted May sales of 88,875, a decline of 39.7 percent versus May 2008. The all-new Insight hybrid posted sales of 2,780, helping drive an increase in total Honda hybrid sales of 7.5 percent.

"May of 2008 was the best month ever for American Honda, as consumers sought fuel-efficient cars in record numbers," said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda. "Staying true to the course of providing fuel- efficient, high-quality, fun-to-drive vehicles will hopefully help see us through to the economic recovery."

Honda total car sales decreased by 48.9 percent to 51,947. Honda light truck sales saw a decrease of 19.4 percent to 36,928.

The Acura Division posted sales of 9,469, a decrease of 34.0 percent compared to May 2008. The TL sedan was the division's top seller, with 3,375 units sold.

*The daily selling rate is calculated with 26 days for May 2009 and 27 days for May 2008. The year-to-date daily selling rate is calculated with 127 days for 2009 and 129 days for 2008. All percentages reflect the daily selling rate.

For more information or downloadable high-resolution images of Honda and Acura vehicles, please visit www.hondanews.com. Consumer information is available at www.honda.com.

 

[Basset Box]

PSS, your post could be a new thread. It appears that the Element is making a final stand!

 

[psschmied]

.... It appears that the Element is making a final stand!

I think that it's more like the last gasp, and probably the result of "creative accounting".

Even the great have to go sometime, but why do the good die young?

 

[Buckskincolt]

Another 1,306 E's last month in June not at all picking up for the little box.:-(

I find it interesting that the Pilot and the Odyssey out paced last year in June and their sales are picking up.

 

[Basset Box]

where there huge incentives for 09 model year blowouts? The Element doesn't seem to have those perks to encourage sales. The 2010 Pilot is advertised on their site so I assume that they moved some old stock. The Odyssey also has a 2.9% APR incentive. Element... has nothing.

I don't see how or why Honda would eliminate the E as everyone suggests. They spend zero money on it and sacrifice zero profit by providing discounts or special APRs. The smart thing would be to shrink it down to compete directly with the smaller boxy vehicles, or to just creat a seperate platform off of the Fit.

 

[Buckskincolt]

where there huge incentives for 09 model year blowouts? The Element doesn't seem to have those perks to encourage sales. The 2010 Pilot is advertised on their site so I assume that they moved some old stock. The Odyssey also has a 2.9% APR incentive. Element... has nothing.

I don't see how or why Honda would eliminate the E as everyone suggests. They spend zero money on it and sacrifice zero profit by providing discounts or special APRs. The smart thing would be to shrink it down to compete directly with the smaller boxy vehicles, or to just creat a seperate platform off of the Fit.

Element does have $1,000 marketing support to the dealer until from 5/6/09 to July 6th. It's hard to find a dealer that gives that to the customer though.

 

[daniel86]

I hope this recession is over soon.

 

[formulabrand]

How are they supposed to sell something the dealers don't have? I've been looking for a 09 EX FWD in a 100 mile radius and NO Dealers have one, zip, zero, none. It's a wonder they even sold 1000, probably 08's? I think the E will change in 2010 to the crossroad or something similar, guess I'll look at the KIA Soul.:-(

Yea, I just bought an '08 SC [again, my first was wrecked 6 weeks into it @ 1,300 miles]. i had a difficult time because of very low stock. Was looking for the dark gray SC 09, but only one in 100 miles and they would not budge on price.

I ended up with the exact same Element that got wrecked.

 

[steamloco76]

I definitely considered a 2009 Element before I purchased my 2009 Forester.

Test drove two E's, a stick and an auto. Both had more squeaks and rattles than my 2005 E with 75K miles on her. The auto was Citrus Fire and the paint robot had missed the inside edges around the back hatch, the bottom of the tailgate (underneath) and the bottom of the driver's door. The rear glass part of the hatch wiggled easily too-no such problems on the old 05.?? where are the QC people?? The Stick was in the color that every dealer has- ASM (dealers within 100 miles of me- One Citrus fire auto-all the rest MT or Auto were ASM,Black or PMM).

No incentives to move the Elements either- got the Forester for over $3100 less than the E, got a fair trade for my 05 (dealer has a Honda Franchise) and 2.99% financing.

P.S.- Local Dealers can't keep a used E newer than 2004 in stock for more than a week or two- esp. if certified.

 

[plazake]

Thanks for the comment bigbird. I couldn’t agree more. A little helpful information never hurt anybody!
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[gyan297]

Honda

Definitely the sales are bound to go down and it will remain the same in the next 2 - 3 months before we touch November 2009 coz from then onwards, the time will pick up and the sales will boom back!! Keep fingers crossed..