Honda hopes to regain form with new Civic

David Conant, Honda's largest and most successful dealer, is eagerly awaiting Sept. 15, the day the first of the new generation of Civics arrive on his lots.

There's a lot riding on the car. Honda is the house that the Civic built in the United States, but in recent years the compact model has lost some of its of luster.

"The old car had its shortcomings -- it lost its youth appeal," said Conant.

The new Civic models, with more powerful engines, sleek new designs, upgraded interiors, better fuel economy and more standard safety features, are an attempt by Japan's third-largest automaker to reignite Civic's fire, and Honda's sales, in the United States.

Civic and mid-size Accord models account for almost half of Honda's U.S. sales, but demand for both has dropped this year. As a result, while rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are posting double-digit percentage sales increases, Honda sales are up just 2.4 percent.

The company needs strong Civic sales to help it maintain its passenger car volume in a shrinking market.

"This is a critical launch for us," said John Mendel, vice president for Honda division automotive operations at Torrance-based American Honda Motor Co. "The Civic is the entry to the Honda brand for many, many people."

Conant, who has been briefed on the new models, said he was "excited about the prospects -- they seem to have addressed all the problems."

The company's new marketing tagline, "Civic: It will reverse your thinking," acknowledges the product line's slipping image and promises that the new models will be a cure.

For the mainstream models, the big problem has been the loss of the buzz about Honda that previous generations of the Civic created, back when used models were highly desired by high school and college students with a yen to customize their rides. It was those young Honda fans who often pushed their parents into dealer showrooms and who, as they grew up and started earning money of their own, maintained their loyalty to the brand.

"It has been the car that introduces people to Honda and keeps them in the family" as they move into Accords and Pilot sport utility vehicles and finally upscale Acura models, said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst at auto market information provider Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif.

Since its introduction in 1973, just as an oil shortage made economy cars popular, the Civic has been Honda's "everything" car: an aspirational vehicle for those too young to buy; an affordable first new car; a car for young families; and a comfortable and economic commuter car for buyers of all ages and financial backgrounds. The Civic grew steadily-- in size and sales -- through six redesigns, or generations.

But with the seventh-generation Civic, launched in 2000, Honda executives chased after the aging baby boomers who had been the Civic's core buyers and lost sight of the huge pool of younger buyers in the "echo boom" generations.

The resulting car was comfortable but conservative.

In stressing ride comfort and cost-cutting packaging efficiencies, Honda made the car harder for do-it-yourself performance enthusiasts to customize. Schoolboys who once tacked posters of hopped-up Civics on their bedroom walls began lusting after Subaru WRXs. READ MORE...