Honda will stop selling the Accord midsize sedan in Europe because it lost to competitors such as Passat in the European market and is under pressure from the BMW 3 Series and other luxury cars.
Honda announced that the European version of the Accord ended in the end of this month, Honda British executive Leon Brannan said at a media conference that due to the lack of sales of the European version of the Accord, sales will stop, "We will end (European version) Accord, and will not Return to this market segment." This means that the European version of the Accord 38 years of history is about to end.
Honda began selling the Accord midsize sedan in Europe in 1977 and set up the plant in Swindon, Wiltshire, England in 1992. At that time, the Accord attracted many consumers with its advanced technology that was affordable and affordable.
However, since Honda turned the Accord production line back from the UK to Japan in 2000, with the yen's exchange rate strengthening, Honda is no longer able to compete with European car companies in terms of price discounts. Accord sales performance has also plummeted, far from the German Volkswagen Passat, the American Ford Mondeo.
The European mid-size sedan market has faced a new round of pressure in recent years. Old luxury brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have started to explore their products. The low-end versions of luxury midsize vehicles such as the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4 are the same as ordinary brands. Medium-sized cars compete for the market. Even Passat and Mondeo have suffered a reduction in market share, and the Accord is even worse.
This time, Brannan did not accidentally mention the luxury brand “invasion”, indicating that the European mid-size car segment is controlled by the German luxury brand. “The cost of competition is unbearable (original eye-watering).”
According to JATO Dynamics, the Honda Accord sold only 3,453 vehicles in Europe in 2014, down 19% year-on-year. According to information provided by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA, Honda's new European car registrations in 2014 were 133,268 units, down 5% year-on-year and 1% market share.
Exiting the stage has long been a sign. In fact, the European version of the Accord will be "dead" can be traced back to 2012; last year, Honda released the European version of the Accord to withdraw from the historical stage. At the time, Honda Australia's general manager Stephen Collins confirmed to the media that the European version of the Accord will stop selling in 2015. "Next year (2015) February will be the last month for Australia to produce the European version of the Accord."
Collins said: "We have sold more than 60,000 two-generation European Accord so far, so the 'double Accord' strategy has worked. In fact, the European version of the Accord is not sold in the United States, its main market is in Europe, but the European mid-size car segment The market is declining, which ultimately leads to (we make) this global decision.” Its remarks not only indicate that the European version of the Accord will disappear in the Australian market, but will also fade out on a global scale.
The European version of the Accord is actually sold under the name of Acura TSX in the United States, and has been replaced by the North American version of the Acura TLX, resulting in a further decline in the possibility of the European version of the Accord. Before the Accord had a distinction between the European version and the US version in the market outside Japan, it is now moving towards a unified trend, dominated by the US version.
It is also said that the Platinum Core, which is tailor-made for China, may become the successor of the European version of the Accord. In April 2014, Beijing Auto Show Honda released a new generation of Platinum Core. However, the performance of the car in China is difficult to say, Honda also denied the possibility of Xinsi Platinum to replace the European version of the Accord in the world, although its appearance is similar to the European version of the Accord, and the interior is upscale.
For more comments on Australian executives, see the article by Gasgoo.com last year, "Honda's end of the European version of Accord Platinum will not replace".
In Honda's plan, 2015 will be a year of recovery in Europe, but the products that carry hope are mainly the HR-V small SUV launched this spring, and the brand's best-selling CR-V compact SUV in Europe.