A New Hope?

[akira3d]

Former Acura NSX Body Designer Becomes New Honda CEO

Date posted: 07-08-2009

TOKYO — Honda marked a changing of the guard here on Tuesday with an official gathering to mark the coming of Takanobu Ito, Honda's new president and CEO. Ito, who officially became Honda chief on June 25, takes over a Honda Motor that has fared better than Toyota and Nissan in the global economic downturn so far.

Even so, with Ito now at the helm, Honda is looking for a new direction.

Honda needs to regroup and recapture the spirit of the past, said Ito, who is heading up both Honda and its engineering division, Honda R&D, so that quick decisions can be made and forced through to combat the current crisis.

Insiders say Ito has already moved swiftly to shake up Honda's future product line for the better, although the first fruits of this revolution will likely be two to three years away at the soonest.

Ito takes over from Takeo Fukui, who had been Honda president for the past six years. Unusually for Honda CEOs, Ito is not an engine guy. Instead, he climbed the ladder as a chassis designer and in the late 1980s was put in charge of developing the all-aluminum body for the groundbreaking Acura NSX supercoupe.

He has also worked in the U.S., where he was actively involved in the creation of the first Acura MDX. In 2007, Ito became Honda's COO for automobile operations.

Inside Line says: Honda over the past decade has grown to become a hugely successful world-class company, but still, many feel some of the Honda spirit of the past has been lost. With luck, some of that will now come back. — Peter Nunn, Correspondent

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=152231

 

[EdinKali]

More like Return of the Jedi.

 

[Juice]

THE New Hope!

This could mean a LOT for Acura. The Legend, Integra R, NSX???? All of these have lost their way under the latest management. Could this be the turning point we have desperately been waiting for?

 

[oscar_driver]

We will see .... otherwise the McLaren P11 is the new NSX in my books forever ...

Oscar

PS: I think Honda is going to be more green than anything forever ,,, -i hope I am wrong-

 

[mugen_kid]

Hopefully this is the direction we have all been hoping for. I miss the the 90s Honda days!

 

[FuryNSX]

I thought you meant something "Star Wars" related.

Heck, there's more chance of Lucas redoing the Original Trilogy again than Honda creating a proper successor to the NSX.

 

[BD]

NOPE!!!

The decision is NOT his along. The board has to approve the project.

 

[Jetpilot3]

Let's pray that another NSX will be re-born! It would be amazing to have the likes of cars similar to Integra's, NSX's, and Civic's roaming around. Those were the good ol days.

 

[sadlerau]

Let's pray that another NSX will be re-born! It would be amazing to have the likes of cars similar to Integra's, NSX's, and Civic's roaming around. Those were the good ol days.

But there's the rub - it is in the past. All those cars had something in common, they felt "light on their feet". But todays cars are lumbered with a lot of excess baggage which cannot be ignored by today's engineers. So I doubt we will ever see light, sporty Honda/ Acuras again :frown:

But I do hope that Honda will give us sporty cars with a very green tinge to them.

 

[N Spec]

But there's the rub - it is in the past. All those cars had something in common, they felt "light on their feet". But todays cars are lumbered with a lot of excess baggage which cannot be ignored by today's engineers. So I doubt we will ever see light, sporty Honda/ Acuras again :frown:

But I do hope that Honda will give us sporty cars with a very green tinge to them.

Yea I agree. Not today, but in the far future perhaps, when cars are re-imagined and there is a revolution, not simple devolution that they mask and call evolution... Right now its all about safety and fuel economy, of which the engineers are still failing on most parts

 

[akira3d]

Heck, there's more chance of Lucas redoing the Original Trilogy again than Honda creating a proper successor to the NSX.

But is there more of a chance that Lucas would redo the prequel Trilogy?

 

[nsxotic911]

We will see .... otherwise the McLaren P11 is the new NSX in my books forever ...

Oscar

PS: I think Honda is going to be more green than anything forever ,,, -i hope I am wrong-

This IS the next NSX.. if it only could be within $$ reach for most of us Ferrari-wannabes.. I mean... yeah.

 

[lightguy]

Ito takes over from Takeo Fukui, who had been Honda president for the past six years. Unusually for Honda CEOs, Ito is not an engine guy. Instead, he climbed the ladder as a chassis designer and in the late 1980s was put in charge of developing the all-aluminum body for the groundbreaking Acura NSX supercoupe.

Engine guy ?
Chassis guy ?
Here in the states CEO's are either Finance guys, Management guys, or Accountants. What does car design have to do with it ?

 

[NSXDreamer2]

lightguy, I somewhat agreed with you and I hope I'm wrong...

I'm working for Honda, I'm in fact thinks a lot of problem are coming from American Honda coporate. Take one look of JDM product lineup and anyone could pick 3-5 products that will be hot in this market.

Big deal with the Venza competitor!! (Accord crossroad) I'm sure it'll be nice, but can't they just bring the Stream over?? What about the Jdm Odyssey, 4 cylinder, 6 seater. How long did they wait to bring over the Fit? 6 years!!! Don't get me started with the decision of American Honda poisoning all dealers with their Mugen Si creation and proved that US market doesn't want a special car. It could have been a whole different story if they bring over a Type R, (note all those posts from people missing light-weight civic/integra.) or even a slightly water-down Mugen RR...


Unless something drastically changed within American Honda, we will have some boring Hondas for awhile.

 

[BD]

One thing I can never figure this out. If they offered Civic Type R basically all over the world, what is AHC's objection for having that car here?

It is really sad the American Honda corp is in a coma since the early 1990's...

Imagine if they brought the Civic/Integra/Accord Type R, Prelude Type S over.

 

[Silver F16]

The reasons are simple. American Honda is chicken and they do not have a Bob Lutz type leader who is passionate about cars. What we have in American Honda a bunch of bean counters who always fear that the volume will not justify bringing it here.

They use volume data of Integra Type R, and Prelude to justify why Civic Type R will not sell enough volume. They introduce Mugen Si as a test bed to see if they will bring over Type R. Since Mugen failed miserably, Honda blinded decided that is no interest for Type R.

They couldn't be more wrong. First, we all know Mugen has minimal substance for the price premium over the Si. Second, the demand for hardcore sedans are there. Look at the number of STI, EVO, Mazda 3 buzzing around. Many Honda enthusiasts would welcome Civic Type R in their garage as an alternate to EVO and STI. American Honda just look at Mugen sales data and says no go.

Over a year ago, Jeff at Temple of VTEC sent in hand full of letters from Honda enthusiasts to American Honda requesting to bring Type R. The only response he got was "We'll try, but no gurantees".

The only hope remaining is Model Year 2011. This generation Civic will go 6 years instead of the typical 5 due to recession. If we don't hear about it by Spring of 2010, it won't happen. I can be hopeful but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

If they ever bringing in the CTR, that will mark my first Honda I'm seriously interested to get from my dealership.

well, an insight with manual tranny will do too.:biggrin:

 

[WingZ]

One thing I can never figure this out. If they offered Civic Type R basically all over the world, what is AHC's objection for having that car here?

They don't sell.

The reasons are simple. American Honda is chicken and they do not have a Bob Lutz type leader who is passionate about cars. What we have in American Honda a bunch of bean counters who always fear that the volume will not justify bringing it here.

They use volume data of Integra Type R, and Prelude to justify why Civic Type R will not sell enough volume. They introduce Mugen Si as a test bed to see if they will bring over Type R. Since Mugen failed miserably, Honda blinded decided that is no interest for Type R.

They couldn't be more wrong. First, we all know Mugen has minimal substance for the price premium over the Si. Second, the demand for hardcore sedans are there. Look at the number of STI, EVO, Mazda 3 buzzing around. Many Honda enthusiasts would welcome Civic Type R in their garage as an alternate to EVO and STI. American Honda just look at Mugen sales data and says no go.

Over a year ago, Jeff at Temple of VTEC sent in hand full of letters from Honda enthusiasts to American Honda requesting to bring Type R. The only response he got was "We'll try, but no gurantees".

The only hope remaining is Model Year 2011. This generation Civic will go 6 years instead of the typical 5 due to recession. If we don't hear about it by Spring of 2010, it won't happen. I can be hopeful but I'm not holding my breath.

All though they tend to have a following after the fact they just don't sell. Every specialty Honda has languished on the lots and they had to discount them to sell them , ITR , Zanardi , CR you name it! When Amercians here sport edition or track model they're used to more power a lot of it. And they want tq so they don't have to work.

Honda Japans concept of sport just doesn't interest that many people certainly not enough to justify the cost of bringing those types of cars over.

Big heavy cars are what sells in America and light weight is generally seen as cheap. The V10 front engine would sell here because that's the formula Americans prefer but of course the purists bemoan this.

Oh well if Mazda is indeed bringing back the RX7 at the next Tokyo auto show Honda will be truly embarrassed if they show up with just the CRZ and everyone else has a sportscar or super car but them.

 

[NSXrebel]

They don't sell.



All though they tend to have a following after the fact they just don't sell. Every specialty Honda has languished on the lots and they had to discount them to sell them , ITR , Zanardi , CR you name it! When Amercians here sport edition or track model they're used to more power a lot of it. And they want tq so they don't have to work.

Honda Japans concept of sport just doesn't interest that many people certainly not enough to justify the cost of bringing those types of cars over.

Big heavy cars are what sells in America and light weight is generally seen as cheap. The V10 front engine would sell here because that's the formula Americans prefer but of course the purists bemoan this.

Oh well if Mazda is indeed bringing back the RX7 at the next Tokyo auto show Honda will be truly embarrassed if they show up with just the CRZ and everyone else has a sportscar or super car but them.

I beg to differ, the ITR did sell well. When the ITR was being sold, it was hard to find one. I know a friend that between him and his mom, they had 3-4 of them. The original Championship White, and later they got a black one, and a yellow one. I'm not sure if they had a red one. I remember they searched all over the place to find them.

 

[Honcho]

I beg to differ, the ITR did sell well. When the ITR was being sold, it was hard to find one. I know a friend that between him and his mom, they had 3-4 of them. The original Championship White, and later they got a black one, and a yellow one. I'm not sure if they had a red one. I remember they searched all over the place to find them.

Perry is talking about volume. Specialty cars like the ITR, CTR and S2000 CR are generally lower profit than the regular models. They cost more to make and that extra cost can't always be recovered with higher prices. Basically, Honda can't sell enough of them to make them worth building, especially in a bad market. Most car companies, Honda included, build these specialty models as a nod to the enthusiast and eat the costs- it's good PR. But, when the margins are tight, they are the first to go.

Fukui tried to turn Honda into Toyota. But, in doing so he has moved Honda away from its roots and marketing strengths by turning sporty, light cars into bland, heavy people movers. Given the new CEO comes from the NSX program, I am encouraged that he will move the company back toward its historic strengths while moving forward in terms of green technology.

 

[WingZ]

I beg to differ, the ITR did sell well. When the ITR was being sold, it was hard to find one. I know a friend that between him and his mom, they had 3-4 of them. The original Championship White, and later they got a black one, and a yellow one. I'm not sure if they had a red one. I remember they searched all over the place to find them.

I remember them always being on lots and Honda started offering good incentives on them as well. Much like the Supra a few years later they were gold and actually started appreciating. Not sure if they got rare from being stolen or what. Great car though and cool that they had so many. It's replacement was actually made more the American market and didn't sell to well.

Seems the more they make cars for the main stream American market the less enthused the enthusiasts are. Well they gotta make a living. Looks like the Insight has now taken over the S2000 production line so that's it for Honda sports car wise.

 

[Honcho]

Seems the more they make cars for the main stream American market the less enthused the enthusiasts are. Well they gotta make a living. Looks like the Insight has now taken over the S2000 production line so that's it for Honda sports car wise.

Unfortunately yes, but sports cars will come back when the profits go up.
:smile: My guess is we'll see the new NSX in 2012 or 2013.

 

[WingZ]

Unfortunately yes, but sports cars will come back when the profits go up.
:smile: My guess is we'll see the new NSX in 2012 or 2013.

Hmm same car that we saw last time or they'd work on something new? The new car would be well old by then. Don't get me wrong I'm in no hurry and very content with my NSX and S2K ,but as restrictions on CAFE go the V10 ( which I really want after hearing it ) just won't make any sense and would be after the fact as the hp wars are over.

I know we've worn this into the ground but the car that still makes the most sense and would've been ahead of it's time in these cutting back on engine size trend is the HSC but that's just plain old dated now. Formula works but it would need some serious development update. The use of one of the J series would keep the cost down and give Acura a Cayman/911/R8 fighter. I have to say Acura is a big part of the problem though. Unpatriotic as it sounds they need to go back to designing things in Japan and following the board there. Apparently Acura has been calling the shots for years and we see where that's getting us.

 

[ediddynsx]

If they are not returning to F1 then I doubt there will be a sports car from then for a whiles.


Taken from S2KI

Honda will not return to Formula One



Jul 13th, 2009 by energetic.
It was shocking news few months ago, when Honda announced retirement from F1. Many were expecting that Honda might return to F1, however it was confirmed by the new chief executive Takanobu Ito, that Honda won’t participate in the future. Formula One has changed and the interest is reduced due to the new regulations; that was said in a media gathering in Tokyo.

 

[Juice]

You are forgetting LeMans. Acura plays in a new arena. A more affordable arena. One that is more connected to the real world. In America, home of most sales. The GT class is wide open and waiting for a street car to copete. Acura has shown interest in developing for this class.

I'm just sayin.:wink: