Honda’s top executive is taking the blame for the Civic’s poor performance in the United States market. Honda’s revised Civic compact launched here last April, but has only garnered luke-warm reviews and sales.
“The ultimate responsibility rests with me,” Honda CEO Takanobu Ito said on the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show. “We take inputs from the various markets with sincerity … and try to work out the best actions for what we have observed. Those decisions rest with me.”
The new Civic has been criticized for excessive road noise and poor interior quality, resulting in Consumer Reports‘ decision to drop the compact from its “recommended” list.
Buyers have clearly taken note of the Civic’s faults, with sales dropping significantly this year. Honda sold 183,557 units of the Civic through October, representing a 15 percent drop off. During that same 10-month period the overall market advanced 10 percent.
With new entrants in the compact market like the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus andHyundai Elantra giving the Civic a run for its money, Honda says it plans to redesign the Civic in 2013 – a full year ahead of its originally planned mid-cycle update.
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