The Short Life of the Honda Accord Hybrid
Anyone looking for a Honda Accord hybrid should realize the only way to get one these days is used.There is no denying the fact that the Honda Accord is one of the most popular vehicles on the road today; however, the hybrid version of this model was not successful.The Honda Accord hybrid was only manufactured for a short period of time and production of this vehicle ceased in the middle of 2007.This article will describe the brief history of this hybrid vehicle and why it failed in the marketplace.
The Honda Accord Hybrid Rolling Off the Assembly Line
By the time production of the Honda Accord hybrid got underway, Honda had already ventured into the hybrid market.By this time Honda was already manufacturing the hybrid version of the Civic as well as the Insight.As these two vehicles are still in production, it demonstrates Honda knew how to make hybrid technology work for them.The success they enjoyed with their previous two hybrid models did not translate to success for the hybrid version of the Accord because of a few poorly planned out risks.Specifically the attempt to push the model in the luxury category was not a successful risk.This was done by including the trims and expensive elements of the Accord in an attempt to entice buyers interested in lavishness as well as fuel economy.However, too much effort was put into the aesthetics of the vehicle and not enough effort was put into designing a vehicle with a solid fuel economy.At first the estimated MPG was a fairly impressive 29 but this estimate was found to be incorrect and a more realistic MPG of 25 was later estimated.Many critics blamed this dismal fuel economy on the fact that Honda had chosen to use a more powerful engine in the vehicle.However, those interested in a hybrid could not justify the additional cost associated with this vehicle when it did not offer the fuel economy they were seeking.
Why Sales of the Honda Accord Hybrid Faltered
From the start, it seemed as though the Honda Accord hybrid was doomed to fail.In particular, critics were unimpressed with the way in which Honda used hybrid technology without gaining fuel economy, which is the intended purpose of this technology.Questions arose about why Honda had opted to offer a hybrid version of the V-6 Accord as opposed to the more fuel efficient four cylinder version.Despite the early criticisms of the Honda Accord hybrid, Honda did manage to sell over 16,000 of these hybrids modes in 2005 but the criticisms of the vehicle caught up with drivers quickly and Honda only sold around 5,500 of these vehicles the following year.An initial design that was flawed combined with more depth in the field of hybrid vehicles available contributed to the poor performance.Quickly realizing this vehicle was not destined for success, Honda stopped producing the model in mid 2007.
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