Just saw the F-chat link, haven't been here in weeks.
The news, if it's true (and I believe it is) is nothing that should shock anyone who's followed my posts about the HSC.
I've said many times that the deflation on the Yen, combined with Honda being under attack from all sides thanks to a dominant Toyota and a resurgent Nissan, along with their current overly-conservative management, would spell doom for those hoping for a true supercar replacement from Honda.
I've documented how it costs anywhere from $1B to $3B to develop a true topline sportscar that could exceed the performance parameters of Ferrari's upcoming 430M (360 replacement), Lamborghini's Gallardo, and the Porsche 911TT. I've also broken down the fact that no Japanese manufacturer could sell any vehicle above $85k either in the United States or in Europe due to the ridiculous "no prestige" peer-pressure at that level and achieve the volume that Honda would require to make back their heavy investment in greenlighting a supercar.
Every day Honda finds itself a medium-sized fish in a medium-sized lake, with lots and lots of massive-sized fish threatening it. The GM engine deal should have been a warning shot that Honda's management is nervous about surviving in a world with no dominant partner. They simply couldn't afford the gamble of releasing an expensive car for just "halo" marketing purposes. The facelift for the 2002 NSX alone cost upwards of $250M to achieve, that should give you an idea of the type of committment we're talking about when we face the task of changing a car, let alone introducing an entirely new one.
I personally had held out hope that Honda could adopt some sort of unified platform with the next-gen S2000 project, drop a nice 3.5L V-6 in it that devlops 330 - 350HP, and sell it with an NSX badge in the $55k price range. But even that it appears is not to be.
Good to know that the S2000 will live on with a second generation model, which is what the Automobile writer is referencing when he talks about a new model to tackle the Boxster, and will likely get a boost in power and capability.
It's the closest we'll see to a new Honda sportscar for the forseeable future, meaning the next decade.
For those of you that need to be talked off the roof thanks to this news, my advice would be to start saving your pennies for those used Gallardos that will flood the market in the next five years. They're making 1,600 of those bad boys a year, and there will be plenty available to choose from in the future. Prices will be under $100k for say a four year old one with 30k miles, and that's a LOT of car for the money.
Best to all.
