Spaceballsthelunchbox

December sales were right at around 500 units.
January sales were down again to 363 units.

In comparison, in the month of January. 2012.
Fiat sold 1911 500's
MINI sold 1710 coopers.

What you gonna do honda?

lovehonds5x7

No need to panic yet. The factory in Swindon UK is back to full production on the the new Civiv, so feels will look up soon

WhiteSlips

Put a K20Z in it, sell for $3,000-$5,000 cheaper, profit.

Libertariat

carbons2k

pricey? I bought my cr-z for 20k Isnt an SI Civiv over 25?

RichmanA2

The type of car you drive has absolutely nothing to do with getting one's phallus wet.

That being said, I like my older (99 EJ6) Civic much better than the newer model. They need to bring back the coup!

trashyhatch

i still want a CRZ

Spaceballsthelunchbox

Get one now, who knows how much longer Honda will keep making them. I think they will go the way of the Element and S2000

Sales have not recovered, it is THE single slowest selling model in the entire Honda line up.

H22Ej1

As in be around relatively unchanged for the better part of a decade?

m_shake

Not surprised in they least, terrible car yields terrible sales. It just dat simple yo!

77777

thats the bottom line for me. i would never EVER buy a car brand new, and all of my non dd's have been rwd. but if the cr-z had been done as such i would have been the first **** in line to get one. so think about that honda. it sucks.

B18C5-EH2

Yeah no joke.

The S2000 achieved popularity, then cult status. It was also around for 9 long years.

The Element proved itself as one of Honda's most reliable models during its 9 year run, and although its sales slipped during its latter years it still outsold the CR-Z in its first year with 67, 478 units sold - all while competing in the saturated SUV market.

The CR-Z would be doing GREAT to follow the S2000 and Element's lead...

JHall250

I'm glad to hear it isn't selling well, Honda keeps making lame boring cars and they sell accordingly. I've got my fingers crossed that, if they bring the supercharged IMA version of it out, that it will sell poorly too until they ditch this silly idea of cramming hybrid technology into sports cars. In fact sports cars should be the LAST cars to get hybrid technology, the whole point is the freedom of the open (preferably twisty) road, not dragging around 400 lbs of useless batteries and electric motors.

I agree with everyone else who said put a K20 in the car, price it reasonably, sell the crap out of it, and call it a day. Give the people what they want, not the garbage you feel they need. It seems Honda really likes learning this lesson the hard way.

rice_classic

:time for a rant:

The entire IMA system of the CR-Z weights roughly 132lbs. It's no different than having a chunky girlfriend in the passenger seat.

I for one want a hybrid sports car, unfortunately the manufacturers haven't build one in the $25k ballpark yet that is good enough.

Honda is going through growing pains, and you (and I for that matter) are under no obligation to purchase their vehicles during their redevelopment struggles. However they have to try things and the idea of a hybrid sports car is, imho, a damn good idea. The problem with the CR-Z is that IT'S NOT A SPORTS CAR. It's a 2-seater Insight. Maybe Honda will find their money maker like Toyota did with the Prius.

I think the success of the Prius is sort of a purposeful accident. They set out to build a fuel efficient hybrid, they did. The marketing was good, sure, but what they didn't count on was the passion it created. Prius owners have a passion about them like an Apple fanboi does about his iPad. I don't think Toyota purposefully set out to tap into the passion/dedication/religiosity of the fuel saver-treehugger-modern eco hippy demographic, but it happened. Honda needs to build a car that people are passionate about too. It doesn't have to be that same demographic but between the Insight, the CRZ and the Accord Crosstour, their vehicles have the same amount of passion as a dead hooker.

Why is building a car that generates a passionate enthusiasm needed? The reason; when you're passionate about something you tend to forgive, forget or embrace the other stuff that's not so desirable. Alfa Romeo is a great example of this phenomenon and so is Subaru.

The new Toyobaru 86 is a good example of building passion. I haven't even seen it in person yet and I can't think of a $25k car that I've wanted more since the S2000. The reality is, those enthusiasts like us are actually the minority in the car buying world. We easily forget that speed enthusiasts, people with a need for speed do not have a monopoly on being passionate about vehicles. In fact automotive enthusiasts like us are actually the minority car purchasing demographic. I couldn't find any raw data but it's said that only 35% of all CRX's sold from 88-91 were Si's.

Back to sports cars that are hybrids that I want:

The Jaguar CX-75 with awd, 1000 ft/lbs of torque and twin micro turbines as generators?! Yes please.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. Yes please

The 2013 Acura NSX with front axle electric motor awd.

I even like the Tesla.


No use pining for the "good ol' days". They're not coming back. Gasoline is only going to get more expensive and eventually our desire for petrol only sports cars (or vehicles in general) will be grossly outweighed by our desire to not buy petrol when it's more expensive than good vodka.

Spaceballsthelunchbox

560 units in february and 536 in March.

I think the CRZzzzzzz is going to be more like the original Insight, rather than the S2000 or Element. The CRZzzzz never got to be popular, not even for a short while.

Deluxe 247

I'd take a crz

JHall250

And the funny thing about this is that you and I could argue until we were dead but the market decides what it wants. As of right now the market isn't buying into the sports hybrid thing in this country.

As far as the "good ole days" coming back, they will never come back however it's possible (and currently beginning) that a sports car wave will return. I'm referring to the entry level FR cars, Genesis Coupe, up coming Scion, and Subaru coming in with true performance features at relatively reasonable prices which I find incredibly exciting as do many other enthusiasts.

The Genesis Coupe is outselling the CRZ massively because it offers people value the CRZ can't compete with. Granted they are different cars but I would be willing to bet a large chunk of cash that if Honda had a CRZ Type S with a K20Z pushing about 197hp that it would outsell the Genesis Coupe and CRZ put together because it would be offering a high level of value to a large volume of people. It's all about value, if something is a great product but it doesn't offer enough value for it's price it won't sell and this is the predicament the CRZ is in. Its intention is to offer a sub-compact sports hybrid which is of little value to most people as demonstrated by it's sales figures.

As I said before, the market doesn't currently agree with you which is why the CRZ isn't selling and the purpose of my post was praising the market for not buying into it. So continue your rant if you will but that won't change the sales numbers.

rice_classic

Ironically you both missed my point I was making and simultaneously proved my point. Which is fair because my post was long and wordy. The genesis coupe, subaru etc etc outsell the CRZ. Why? Well because the CRZ IS NOT what it claims to be.

If the Genesis Coupe (a "sports car") had a 0-60 time of 13 seconds, its sales would suffer also (exaggeration to prove a point). It isn't the IMA system that is the reason for the CRZ's poor sales figures, it's the performance both in MPG's and performance.

If it's a hybrid I expect outstanding mpg's
If it's a sports car I expect performance

Honda calls the CRZ a hybrid sports car while it meets the expectations of neither, that is why I claim the sales suffer.

Here's my 3 scenarios' that would have given the CRZ greater success:
1: If the CRZ got 55mpg with the same performance, it would sell better.
2: If the CRZ got the same MPG but with better performance (0-60 in 7 to 8 seconds)
3: If the CRZ a K20 with or without the IMA.

If the upcoming ToyaBaru FR-S/BRZ had 140lb IMA system that bumped the city mileage by +5mpg and gave me a KERS like feature at the track, I'd pay extra $2k for that feature.

elbergalarga

+2 better than a car assembled in Mexico .aka American cars...

ZygSpeed

I'm still optimistically looking forward to seeing what Honda comes up with for updates to the CR-Z.

Hopefully, by or around the end of this year, otherwise I'll actually have to start restoring my 85 CRX Si.

j3wman

Soichiro Honda is rolling over in his grave the CRZ could of been so much but Honda's upper management decided that we cant have fun anymore so they made it a sluggish hybrid lump. I hope someone from Honda's design team, consumer research or whatever reads this.

I WANT A NON HYBRID CRZ WITH A FIT ENGINE FOR UNDER $19K THATS PRETTY REALISTIC.

It is pretty realistic, i dont need fancy lights, i dont need a bright dashboard or cool noises. What would Soichiro Honda do? "The value of life can be measured by how many times the soul has been deeply stirred" he said that, that should be the moniker on the billboard visible out of the window of the corporate offices of Honda. Make a basic CRZ that is affordable and simple to work with, say it cant be done huh? Hyundai has done it with the Accent, Honda did it with the Fit it can be done. I have faith in Honda doing the right thing.

If this is too long to read here are the main points:
1.) The CRZ is the product of executives stating what it should do not the engineers
2.) Honda should release it with even just a fit engine and make it cheap, really cheap like first car territory cheap (mid $10ks)
3.) If Honda follows Soichiro Honda's teachings they will be better off

ZygSpeed

All I'm saying is that 5 PSI of boost could fix a lot, while still (potentially) keeping MPGs up when driving with a light foot.

mikemorales

It is such a specialty vehicle. I do not like hybrids per se but the first time I test drove the car and hit sport mode I was sold. I added 3K of Honda accessories to my red EX. I loved my 1992 base Civic hatchback. The CR-Z is the great great grandson of that car. Our economy is still headed for hard times, in spite of what you hear on the news. This car is not practical at all. That is why I love it, and if it could fly, George Jetson would be driving it.

mikemorales

Now there is the harsh reality for everyone logged on this site.

mikemorales

I disagree with your penile assessment. When I drive my 2000 Silver Plymouth Prowler I have had married women come out of their houses to hop on I mean in my ride. Cars might not make the man but they can sure be vaginamagnets.