Automakers Today: Brilliant and Baffling

Automakers are baffling at the moment. Three years after wrenching spikes in fuel prices, and their product offerings are still lame-o.

For the moment, let’s pick on Honda -- not because it’s a bad company, but precisely because it’s been so good for so long but seems to be getting so much wrong these days.

The current incarnation of the Insight is a great case in point. It’s rather obvious the top brass just can’t understand why nobody wants it. At its core, it’s a dandy piece of engineering: typical Honda simplicity and design elegance. Unlike the hopelessly complex and technologically burdened Prius, the Insight doesn’t suffer from adding layers of complication on top of each other to solve the efficiency problem. It IS efficient. Aside from the battery pack, it only requires a little extra metal and parts over a comparably-sized compact car. It certainly consumes far less material than the average “crossover utility vehicle” so popular with buyers these days.

So what’s wrong with it?

Identity and commitment. It’s like Honda is dipping its big toe in the water to gauge market temperature, and then expecting applause as if it dove in full throttle. Inexplicably, Honda decided to compete head-to-head with the Prius -- only with a cheaper, smaller, louder, less comfortable version. There was a teensy problem with that strategy: the Prius buyer is smug, image-conscious, pampered and well-to-do. They wouldn’t be seen driving something “less than.”

Why not keep the Fit’s basic body architecture (the Insight uses a lot of off-the-shelf Fit pieces), box it up just enough to resemble a CR-V and raise it a bit off the ground with tall wheels and tires? Yes, this would have caused a bit of a hit on highway mpg. But most people buy hybrids to commute in town (where aerodynamics don’t matter nearly as much). And what better marketing strategy than a hybrid SUV that gets nearly-Prius mpg numbers? There’s a proven market of buyers (Ford Escape) who’d be more than happy to save a few dollars and get better mileage driving a socially-acceptable styling package.

Once established in the mindset of the consumer, an AWD version would be the logical next step. What’s really sad is that Honda’s original CR-V was a tall Civic wagon. It was ugly as sin, but they couldn’t build them fast enough. Why? Because it was the mid-80’s and the twin gas shocks were still fresh in everyone’s mind, and it was a roomy small car that was available in 4WD and got fantastic mileage.

The “ECO” button was the final nail in the coffin, proving that Honda just doesn’t understand the hybrid buyer. That button should not -- let’s all say it again -- SHOULD NOT -- exist. Period. A hybrid is expected to sip fuel. All the time. Program the electronics so that full acceleration is available in the last 10% of pedal travel only, and once you hit that level, goose the electric motor while forcing the CVT to aggressively lower the gear ratio instantaneously. All buyers want to know is that the power is there if they need it. To add injury to insult, the existence of that infernal “ECO” button ruined the official EPA mpg ratings. Ugh. What a mess.

Finally, and oh-so-sadly, it’s one of the very few cars in Honda’s lineup that isn’t built on this side of the Pacific. So, Honda is at the mercy of the wildly fluctuating yen for profitability in a segment that has notoriously razor-thin margins. Granted, converting one of the American assembly lines to subcompact production would have been a big risk. But we’re back to the toe-in-the-water thing. Do you want to beat Toyota at their own game? Then make some bold moves -- like Toyota did with the Prius.

There are more “huh?” moments once you get inside and look at the sub-par (for Honda) and illogical packaging for passengers, storage -- and even the spare tire.

It’s just so sad to see such poor execution on all fronts, because the parts you can’t see (engine, integrated motor assist system, CVT, electronics, valvetrain, battery packaging and efficiency) are all so delightfully efficient and brilliant. Like a Honda.