I WAAAAAAAAANNNNNT THIS CAR! Real nice sporty family car.
Who knew this was possible?
JM
This is from Mazda. Do you work for Mazda?
So I guess in a way we get the Euro-Fords. Euro Focus = Mazda 3 with different dash and Mondeo = Mazda 6 with a different dash. The question is why does Ford even waste recourse on their inferior US lineup other than to guarantee consistent quarterly losses.
The new Mazda6 is absolutely stunning and gorgeous inside and out. I have been a longtime Honda fan, and I can’t help but smack my head in disbelief at Honda’s baffling styling trend recently. I can’t fault them on their top-notch engineering and reliability (along with Toyota), but they seriously have to go back to the drawing board and start over with respect to styling across their whole model lineup for North America. What may work for Europe and Asia simply does not over here. Honda really needs to stop feigning ignorance to this matter. I believe it could be economically feasible and still be profitable for Honda, even if it means having to alter and maintain unique manufacturing plants specific to this market. A temporary reduction in their short-term (and sizable) profit margin could easily be offset down the road with a renewed declaration by the American public of Honda as the styling leader once again. The current attitude of “people are going to buy Hondas like lemmings anyway, so why bother” is rather disturbing. Can you imagine how many more people would flock to Honda in droves? In my book, Honda has disappointingly become another clunky yet efficient toaster manufacturer like Toyota. Mazda and Nissan have made tremendous advancements, and I feel it’s utterly foolish for Honda and Toyota to continue to rest on their past laurels. And just to clarify, I’m part of the 4-cylinder, gas-saving, conservative-driving, resale-loving, penny-pinching demographic majority that is the cash cow for these companies. I used to blindly follow Honda, but not anymore. I can’t believe I’m saying this about Toyota, but the current Camry is head and shoulders above the Accord in terms of styling inside and out, though still not as nice as the Nissans. As for Mazda, with the current Mazda3 and the new Mazda6, all I can say is bravo! Competition is absolutely wonderful for consumer choice, but nevertheless I can’t help but feel sad at the same time because I will always have a soft corner for Honda and Toyota in my heart (old habits die hard). I applaud Nissan for listenig to consumer reaction and fine-tuning the Altima. It’s really nice now. The Maxima is beautiful but overpriced in my opinion. My extended family has always owned Hondas and Toyotas religiously. Recently I was looking to buy a new compact for big-metro, downtown driving and parking. I naturally gravitated towards the usual suspects of Honda/Toyota and looked at the Civic and Corolla. My wife and I liked the Civics exterior styling but hated the cheap, high-schoolish interior. The Corolla was nice on the inside but bland on the outside, plus the new generation Corolla is coming out soon, and we didn’t want to be stuck with an old design. We then looked at the Nissan Sentra and Versa, which were still utterly disappointing. Just before giving up hope, we accidentally stumbled across the Mazda3 and were blown away by the interior, exterior, AND driving (this coming from an ex-BMW 3-series owner) relative to its competition, and we were sold. As a bonus and icing on the cake (but definitely not a requirement of ours), we were able to get leather, GPS navigation, BOSE audio, Xenon HIDs, etc. for under invoice (and not even available with the competition). Sure people are going to bring up reliability and resale value. I’ve done extensive research on reliability, and based on my ownership so far, I’m not worried. I’ve had firsthand, horrible mechanical issues with Honda/Toyota. They’re no doubt great for the most part, but no company is invincible or immune. As for resale, Honda gets away with demanding MSRP (and even over sometimes) in my market and arrogantly refuse to negotiate. Their better resale definitely DOES NOT offset their daylight robbery of jacked up prices, when I can get something better for under invoice. All my Honda and Toyota owning passengers can’t stop ogling over my Mazda3 hatchback. I can’t wait to check out the new 5-door Mazda6 in person. And for you people who love to say “the Accord hasn’t even released yet, wait to see it in person…”, I’m not interested in something that needs to grow on me over time. Initial attraction goes a long way, and there’s a reason why cars like BMW etc. are popular at first glance (and not just because of their driving dynamics).
Please Honda, please rethink your game plan down the road…it’s not too late, and I have full faith in you!!!
Financially and market share, honda and toyota have done great and continue to do great. Since they have always had pretty ugly vehicles, it is obvious to me people look for other things when they make a purchase. It comes down to value, resale, reliability. Not surprising $$$$$ criteria rule the day for the American consumer.
You posted my video!
I WAAAAAAAAANNNNNT THIS CAR! Real nice sporty family car.
Who knew this was possible?
JM
This is from Mazda.
Do you work for Mazda?
So I guess in a way we get the Euro-Fords. Euro Focus = Mazda 3 with different dash and Mondeo = Mazda 6 with a different dash. The question is why does Ford even waste recourse on their inferior US lineup other than to guarantee consistent quarterly losses.
The new Mazda6 is absolutely stunning and gorgeous inside and out. I have been a longtime Honda fan, and I can’t help but smack my head in disbelief at Honda’s baffling styling trend recently. I can’t fault them on their top-notch engineering and reliability (along with Toyota), but they seriously have to go back to the drawing board and start over with respect to styling across their whole model lineup for North America. What may work for Europe and Asia simply does not over here. Honda really needs to stop feigning ignorance to this matter. I believe it could be economically feasible and still be profitable for Honda, even if it means having to alter and maintain unique manufacturing plants specific to this market. A temporary reduction in their short-term (and sizable) profit margin could easily be offset down the road with a renewed declaration by the American public of Honda as the styling leader once again. The current attitude of “people are going to buy Hondas like lemmings anyway, so why bother” is rather disturbing. Can you imagine how many more people would flock to Honda in droves? In my book, Honda has disappointingly become another clunky yet efficient toaster manufacturer like Toyota. Mazda and Nissan have made tremendous advancements, and I feel it’s utterly foolish for Honda and Toyota to continue to rest on their past laurels. And just to clarify, I’m part of the 4-cylinder, gas-saving, conservative-driving, resale-loving, penny-pinching demographic majority that is the cash cow for these companies. I used to blindly follow Honda, but not anymore. I can’t believe I’m saying this about Toyota, but the current Camry is head and shoulders above the Accord in terms of styling inside and out, though still not as nice as the Nissans. As for Mazda, with the current Mazda3 and the new Mazda6, all I can say is bravo! Competition is absolutely wonderful for consumer choice, but nevertheless I can’t help but feel sad at the same time because I will always have a soft corner for Honda and Toyota in my heart (old habits die hard). I applaud Nissan for listenig to consumer reaction and fine-tuning the Altima. It’s really nice now. The Maxima is beautiful but overpriced in my opinion. My extended family has always owned Hondas and Toyotas religiously. Recently I was looking to buy a new compact for big-metro, downtown driving and parking. I naturally gravitated towards the usual suspects of Honda/Toyota and looked at the Civic and Corolla. My wife and I liked the Civics exterior styling but hated the cheap, high-schoolish interior. The Corolla was nice on the inside but bland on the outside, plus the new generation Corolla is coming out soon, and we didn’t want to be stuck with an old design. We then looked at the Nissan Sentra and Versa, which were still utterly disappointing. Just before giving up hope, we accidentally stumbled across the Mazda3 and were blown away by the interior, exterior, AND driving (this coming from an ex-BMW 3-series owner) relative to its competition, and we were sold. As a bonus and icing on the cake (but definitely not a requirement of ours), we were able to get leather, GPS navigation, BOSE audio, Xenon HIDs, etc. for under invoice (and not even available with the competition). Sure people are going to bring up reliability and resale value. I’ve done extensive research on reliability, and based on my ownership so far, I’m not worried. I’ve had firsthand, horrible mechanical issues with Honda/Toyota. They’re no doubt great for the most part, but no company is invincible or immune. As for resale, Honda gets away with demanding MSRP (and even over sometimes) in my market and arrogantly refuse to negotiate. Their better resale definitely DOES NOT offset their daylight robbery of jacked up prices, when I can get something better for under invoice. All my Honda and Toyota owning passengers can’t stop ogling over my Mazda3 hatchback. I can’t wait to check out the new 5-door Mazda6 in person. And for you people who love to say “the Accord hasn’t even released yet, wait to see it in person…”, I’m not interested in something that needs to grow on me over time. Initial attraction goes a long way, and there’s a reason why cars like BMW etc. are popular at first glance (and not just because of their driving dynamics).
Please Honda, please rethink your game plan down the road…it’s not too late, and I have full faith in you!!!
Financially and market share, honda and toyota have done great and continue to do great. Since they have always had pretty ugly vehicles, it is obvious to me people look for other things when they make a purchase. It comes down to value, resale, reliability. Not surprising $$$$$ criteria rule the day for the American consumer.