• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: A Sports Car from a Company You've Never Heard Of
  • Analysts Predict Declining Tesla Sales in Q3
  • Overlanding is the New Hotness
  • New Vehicle Sales Increase in September
  • Are EVs Affordable? Only if You’re a Luxury Buyer
  • Honda Takes Wraps Off New All-Electric Prologue
  • Mercedes to Offer True Self-Driving in Late 2023
  • Biden Meets UAW Picketers, Offers Support
  • Ford Halts $3.5B MI Battery Plant; Fain Slams Company
  • An Electric Acura NSX Could Be Coming
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2024 Buick Encore GX Sport Touring AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 250+
    • A Week With: 2024 Mazda CX-90 Turbo S Premium Plus
    • A Week With: 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV
    • A Week With: The 2024 BMW i7 xDrive60
    • A Week With: 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid
    • A Week With: 2024 Subaru Impreza RS
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Desert Boss
    • First Drive: 2024 Polestar 2
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Honda Shifting from Cars to Trucks

        Honda Shifting from Cars to Trucks

        Maker searching for more “white space” opportunities.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        May 21, 2015
        Honda's 2016 Pilot begins rolling off the company's assembly line in Lincoln, Alabama, today.

        Things will be getting busy at the Honda Manufacturing of Alabama plant today – make that busier – as the first of the maker’s new 2016 Pilot SUVs begins rolling down the line.

        It’s the third-generation version of the three-row ute that has become not just one of the most popular vehicles in its segment but a symbol of some major changes at the Japanese brand. Long focused on sedans and coupes like the Accord and Civic, Honda is steadily shifting emphasis from passenger cars to sport- and crossover-utility vehicles.

        Automotive Insight!

        Already, truck models make up 49% of total U.S. production, noted John Mendel, Honda’s top U.S. executive, “and we could flex that even further,” he said during a teleconference with reporters marking the launch of Pilot production. “That depends on the car market and how much the truck market grows.”

        If anything, it seems almost certain that the truck side will top 50% in the near future. The Alabama plant is a critical part of that shift. It will have capacity to produce at least 120,000 Pilots annually, once the ramp-up of the new model is completed. The Lincoln, Alabama, factory also rolls out Honda Odyssey minivans and MDX utes for the upscale Acura brand.

        Honda pumped $72 million into its Lincoln, Alabama, plant to build engines. The plant is adding three new products in the next year.

        And, in less than a year, it will resume production of the midsize Ridgeline pickup, albeit an all-new version of the truck.

        (Click Here for a review of the 2016 Honda Pilot.)

        Last year, the sprawling factory produced 363,419 vehicles, all told, but Mendel said, “We have some upside potential as we bring new vehicles and new capacity online.”

        To get there, Honda invested $508 million in the Alabama plant over the last three years, including $72 million for an engine plant now assembling 1,500 V-6s daily.

        Like key Japanese rivals Toyota and Nissan, Honda now produces in North America the majority of vehicles it sells in the U.S. market. A new Mexican plant is responsible for the latest addition to the Honda truck portfolio, the B-segment crossover the HR-V.

        (Click Here for a review of the 2016 Honda HR-V.)

        The subcompact model enters a segment that barely existed until recently. In fact, Mendel chuckled as he recalled the skeptical response the concept version of the HR-V got when it was unveiled two years ago. But it joins a flood of new small crossovers such as the Jeep Rendezvous and Chevrolet Trax. And, as TheDetroitBureau.com reported this week, Hyundai expects to add a competitor in the B-segment, as well.

        The 2016 Honda HR-V has gotten generally positive reviews that should give it a solid push as it reaches U.S. showrooms, according to industry observers. The biggest uncertainty for Honda is how American buyers will respond to the next-generation Ridgeline.

        The compact crossover is quickly becoming one of the world's fastest-growing market segment and with the HR-V Honda is hoping to make a splash.

        The original model also scored well with reviewers, at least initially, due to its unusual design. But the pickup quickly lost momentum and was temporarily dropped from the Honda line-up. The next Ridgeline will go back to a more traditional design – and will reach showrooms just as the moribund midsize segment shows some new signs of life after years of decline thanks to the launch of two offerings from General Motors.

        Honda is by no means the only automaker shifting emphasis from traditional passenger cars to trucks. And there is a race to find new niches, such as the B-segment crossover. Mendel said the Japanese maker will continue to seek out new opportunities, though, “as you search for more white space there’s less (of it available).” And Honda won’t launch new products just to get an incremental 5,000 units of sales, he added.

        (Hyundai planning small crossover and production version of Santa Cruz pickup. Click Here for the story.)

        But American consumers “have opened up” to new alternatives, Mendel said, and Honda wants to make sure it doesn’t leave opportunities on the table for its competitors to exploit.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: A Sports Car from a Company You’ve Never Heard Of

        Yesterday

        Analysts Predict Declining Tesla Sales in Q3

        Sept. 29, 2023

        Overlanding is the New Hotness

        Sept. 29, 2023

        One response to “Honda Shifting from Cars to Trucks”

        1. Jorge says:
          May 21, 2015 at 9:46 am

          The U.S. market is the land of excess and this includes SUVs and trucks. In other countries most people are smart enough to understand that SUVs and trucks are not the optimal form of personal transportation for most people. In the U.S. the land of excess… people measure their self worth by how large the vehicle is that they drive or the house that they live in. It’s a strange mentality IMO.

          Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: