Civic: It does the brand good. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Sept. 1, 2017 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) – Pricing will be released later this year while offering future owners an excellent 47-miles of all-electric range and a mixed 110 MPGe and 44/40/42 mpg city/highway/combined rating. Wow! 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV-47 MPG and AER, check! Pricing? Remains to be seen. Honda’s all-new, five-passenger, PHEV has been rated at an EPA range rating of 47 all-electric miles on a full charge, the highest all-electric range rating among all midsize plug-in hybrids. Launching at Honda dealerships nationwide later this year, the 2018 Honda Clarity represents a new more efficient focus for the iconic auto maker. For longer trips, the Clarity Plug-in Hybrid can utilize its “hyper-efficient”, <-- Honda’s own words , atkinsonized 1.5L I4 provides a driving range of 340 miles indicating the Clarity PHEV-47 has a 7-gallon fuel tank. On the electric side, a 181-hp and 232 lb-ft. of torque electric motor powered by a 17 kWh traction battery with a recharge time of just 2.5 hours on a 6.6 kW capable Level2 charger. The Clarity PHEV-47 features three selectable modes – Normal, Econ and Sport. A fourth mode – HV mode –maintains the battery's state of charge for later use in conjunction with Normal, Econ and Sport driving modes. It will be offered in two trims, standard and Touring. Honda August 2017 Sales Overview Honda reported it sold 146,015 Honda and Acura vehicles in August, down 2.4 percent vs. 149,571 sold in August of 2016. On a daily selling rate (DSR) basis – 27 selling days in August of 2017 vs. 26 in August of 2016, sales were off a steeper 6.0 percent. YTD sales of 1,088,881 were down just 0.5 percent vs. the 1,094,725 sold through the same period of 2016. This is a good result given the industry’s 2.7 percent falloff YTD. Honda on its own experienced sales of 132,883 in August, down 1.8 percent from the 135,325 sold in August of 2016. Honda cars gained 4.2 percent with 71,433 vehicles sold in August, while Honda trucks were down 8 percent on sales of 61,460 vehicles. Acura sales of 13,132 were down 7.8 percent from the 14,246 vehicles sold in August of 2016. On the model front, the Civic and HR-V were standouts. Civic sales of 36,482 was up 11.2 percent over the 32,807 sold during August of 2016. YTD sales of 248,928 are down 2.6 percent from the 255,599 sold through the same period of 2016. 2017 Honda Civic Sedan Another 600 units and it would have been the bestselling car in the U.S. in August! Honda’s HR-V achieved sales of 9,603 vehicles, up 26.7 percent over the 7,580 sold in August of 2016. YTD sales of 66,010 are up an even stronger 28.4 percent over the 51,417 sold through the same period of 2016. August 2017 Top 10 Top 10 U.S. August auto sales items of note: The Equinox moved back into the Top 10 pushing the Corolla out. U.S. Automobile Aug. 2017 vs. Aug. 2016 Market Share results August 2017 Market Share items of note: GM gained 1.7 percent, Toyota gained 1.4 percent, FCA was down 1.1 percent, Nissan was down 0.9 percent, and Hyundai was down 1.1 percent vs. August of 2016. August revealed another down sales month as this was the third consecutive month of lower U.S. auto sales. August was the sixth of eight with lower sales in 2017. How fast vehicle replacements to cover Hurricane Harvey devastation will move these results upward remain to be seen. August 2017 B and C-Segment Top 10 Sales and Rankings B and C-Segment sales items of note: In the B-Segment, Ford's Fiesta is quietly moving up to challenge the perennial sales champ Nissan Versa and Honda Fit. The Hyundai Accent experienced the steepest sales decline in the segment. Regarding the C-segment, the Civic simply dominated and it was not even close. Chevrolet's Cruze moved up a significant 3 spots from 6th to 3rd despite the large August sales percentage fall off. Hyundai's Elantra sales fell the most on a percentage basis while the platform sharing Kia Forte achieved the largest sales increase on a percentage basis. August 2017 D and Utility Segment Top 10 Sales and Rankings D-segment sales items of note: With the highly regarded all-new 8th gen Toyota Camry reaching dealership showrooms in mass including the most efficient midsize available in the form of the 51/53 mpg city/highway rated LE Hybrid, it was no surprise to see it vault to the top of the D-segment sales charts by a significant margin. Chevrolet's Malibu moved up a significant 3-spots from 6th to 3rd. The once formidable Altima is falling into mediocrity. Hyundai's Sonata, Kia's Optima, VW's Passat, and Mercedes-Benz's E-Class all had similar 20+ percentage sales declines. Utility sales items of note: The well-built Toyota RAV4 owned this segment having an almost 40 percent gap to the second place Honda CR-V. Rogue has fallen 3 spots in as many months despite the best online marketing in the segment. The darling goes to the all-new 2018 Equinox with sales increasing by almost 85 percent. August 2017 Pickup Segment Top 10 Sales and Rankings Pickup sales items of note: The F-series continues to achieve astounding sales volumes over the rest of the segment. GM is making progress with overall truck sales thanks mainly to the Silverado and Colorado volumes which in turn shows GMs pickup truck lineup in total outselling Ford's F-Series. Tacoma continues to astound despite my own personal distaste for its poor efficiency, ergonomics, and price. August 2017 Electrified Segments Top 10 Sales and Rankings Electrified sales items of note: The real standout is the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as volumes continue to climb. A few more months of this and it may even surpass the struggling Prius liftback! Fusion Hybrid moved back ahead of the very steady Niro sales. The Kia Niro as its sales continue to hold in the 2,500+ range once again. It is good to see the most efficient vehicle in the segment holding onto sales volumes with little discounting proving its resilience. If only more Texan's were in it instead of their CUV/SUV/Pickup of choice, there would be no gasoline shortage in the region. Ioniq sales continue to struggle possibly due to minor incentive help from Hyundai. On the plug-in front, the Prius Prime continues to move forward placing both the Volt and the Leaf in its rear view. Ford's Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi swapped places in August. 2017 U.S. August Auto Industry Sales Totals U.S. August 2017 Sales vs. August 2016 Sales Ranks and Results for the top 18 Automobile Manufacturers GM U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 7.5% with 275,552 Vehicles Sold Toyota U.S. August Sales Up 6.8% with 227,625 Vehicles Sold Ford U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 2.1% with 209,897 Vehicles Sold FCA U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 10.6% with 176,033 Vehicles Sold Honda U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 2.4% with 146,015 Vehicles Sold Nissan U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 13.1% with 108,326 Vehicles Sold Subaru U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 4.6% with 63,215 Vehicles Sold Hyundai U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 24.6% with 54,310 Vehicles Sold Kia U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 1.7% with 53,323 Vehicles Sold VW U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 9.0% with 32,015 Vehicles Sold Mercedes-Benz August 2017 Sales Down 8.5% with 29,183 Vehicles Sold BMW U.S. August 2017 Sales Down 8.2% with 28,001 Vehicles Sold Mazda U.S. July 2017 Sales Down 1.0% with 25,846 Vehicles Sold Audi U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 2.8% with 19,811 Vehicles Sold Jaguar/Land Rover U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 1.0% with 9,421 Vehicles Sold Mitsubishi U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 11.3% with 8,164 Vehicles Sold Volvo U.S. August 2017 Sales Up 4.1% with 7,994 Vehicles Sold Porsche U.S. July 2017 Sales Down 9.1% with 4,709 Vehicles Sold Top 18 U.S. August Auto Industry Manufacturers sales items of note: Subaru moved up yet another spot to #7 ahead of both Kia and Hyundai and appears to have placed both in the rear view for good. Hyundai and Kia swapped sales spots in August as well. VW moved ahead of Mercedes-Benz too occupy the 10th spot. 2017 U.S. Monthly Auto Industry Sales Totals January 2017 (+.01 million): 1.14 million vs 1.13 million sold in January of 2016 February 2017 (-.01 million): 1.32 million vs 1.33 million sold in February of 2016 March 2017 (-.05 million): 1.54 million vs 1.59 million sold in March of 2016 April 2017 (-.06 million): 1.44 million vs. 1.50 million sold in April of 2016 May 2017 (+.06 million): 1.52 million vs. 1.46 million sold in May of 2016 June 2017 (-.06 million): 1.46 million vs. 1.51 million sold in June of 2016 July 2017 (-.11 million): 1.41 million vs. 1.52 million sold in July of 2016 August 2017 (-.04 million): 1.47 million vs 1.51 million sold in August of 2016 August 2017 U.S. Automotive industry sales of 1.47 million was down 2.6 percent vs. the 1.51 million sold in August of 2016. On a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis, August sales were off 6.3 percent given there were 27 selling days in August of 2017 vs. 26 in August of 2016. August 2017 sales YTD of 11.31 million was down 2.7 percent from the 11.62 million sold through August of 2016 YTD. There were 204 selling days in both 2017 and 2016.
Those are outstanding specs on the Clarity PHEV. Bigger than a Volt and probably much more costly, but competition on the AER front. The stealth fighter Civic is growing on me.
The Clarity has a big trunk and a decent pass through (I think). Bigger than the Accord .....If this is priced in the mid 30's BTC ... it might end up getting cross shopped against the model 3.
The real question is how much support will Honda give it? Are they truly behind it, or is it compliance only? The FCEV and BEV are still lease only.
I've read several articles where they say all 50 states. ... and the mid 30's. So if you can take the full tax credit, you'd be getting a PHEV Clarity for not much more (about 2 or 3 thousand(?)) than an Accord. Even at today's fuel prices, you'd make that back in less than 3 years. /but yeah, I suspect most of these (at least for the first year or two) will end up in the usual places //add,... this is, arguably, the first (and currently, only) "no compromise"* vehicle with a plug. Honda ought to sell a lot of these. ... and gain market share. *one could argue the 2nd gen Volt was first, but the small size per price and lack of "actual" 5th seat constitutes a compromise (imo).
The first Prius plug in was going to be 50 state in the beginning too. Though market and public pressure is higher now for a nationwide offering. I'm thinking the Clarity PHEV will be closer to $40k.
Ah, so that's what BTC is and not bitcoin. Is the Clarity anything like the Accord in capacity, handling, creature comforts?... If so, wouldn't the pricing have to make sense against an Accord Hybrid? Or is the latter going away? If priced at $40k, the Clarity PHEV would still come in below an Accord Hybrid after tax credits, a la Prius Prime vs. Prius. Of course, I think the Accord Hybrid is overpriced.
Clarity is bigger than the Accord, creature comforts should exceed. My guess is they will market the Accord hybrid as the "sport" hybrid. Clarity Phev is more of a comfort luxury sedan. fwiw --I've seen a few articles and a presentation from Honda that says it IS a mid 30's car (before bitcoin) But, ... Honda might make only the touring version available, and only on the west coast to start, etc... etc... This being their first venture into a thermal managed larger pack,,, they're probably going to want a slow roll out in limited areas to start. / all of the above mostly just imo,.. will be interesting to see what Honda actually does //something like this seems to make more practical sense than a long range BEV. I think Honda can build it (and make money) in the mid 30's,.. when gas is $4,5,6+/gallon (like it is in a lot of the world) .. I can see all the pieces start to fit together. and Honda's "electric vision 2025" making sense. ///I would expect Ford and all the rest to respond in kind with purpose built 40+ mile phev's that don't fill up half the trunk with batteries. ////one more add,... I doubt that the Clarity PHEV is that much more costly to manufacture than the Volt. I think size alone is a fairly small factor in cost to build. The OEM's have had us fooled for a long time on that one.
On the "plug with no compromise" front, .. Clarity PHEV 'barely' clears the gas only range hurdle at 293 miles. --- there will likely be some complaining about this. Which then makes you wonder, .. if 293 miles and a 5 minute refuel is almost a problem ......
Honda Canada August 2017 Sales up 2.9% with 18,351 Vehicles Sold Honda achieves its best August sales in 10 years. Honda Canada (Honda and Acura combined) achieved its best August sales result since 2007 with 18,351 vehicles sold, up 2.9 percent over the 17,828 sold in August of 2016. Honda on its own achieved August sales of 16,719 units, up 6.1 percent over the 15,764 sold in August of 2016. This was also a best August in 10-years result. Acura achieved August sales of 1,632 vehicles, down 20.9 percent from the 2,064 sold in August of 2016. YTD sales 136,398 was up an excellent 9.8 percent over the 124,228 sold through the same period of 2016. Honda Canada August Sales Highlights Like the U.S., the hot Civic family was on fire! Could our own Mike Sefton’s purchase of one have something to do with it? The Honda Civic, Canada’s best-selling passenger car in Canada for the past 19 years, achieved August sales of 7,139 vehicles, up 24.4 percent over the 5,737 sold in August of 2016. YTD sales of 50,898 was up 14.9 percent over the 44,295 sold through the same period of 2016. Accord August sales of 1,411 was up 132.9 percent over the 1,062 sold in August of 2016. YTD sales of 10,243 was up 8.5 percent over the 9,442 sold through the same period of 2016. Canada August 2017 Ranks and Results for the top 7 Automobile Manufacturers Ford Canada August 2017 Sales Down 5.8% with 27,299 Vehicles Sold GM Canada August 2017 Sales Up 28.5% with 22,547 Vehicles Sold Toyota Canada August 2017 Sales Up 7.5% with 20,036 Vehicles Sold FCA Canada August 2017 Sales Down 9.4% with 19,648 Vehicles Sold Honda Canada August 2017 Sales up 2.9% with 18,351 Vehicles Sold Nissan Canada August 2017 Sales Up 14.4% with 13,163 Vehicles Sold Hyundai August June 2017 Sales Down 10.5% with 11,949 vehicles sold Canadian sales items of note: GM Canada and Toyota Canada moved ahead of FCA Canada in August.
Is the 'larger than an Accord' in comparison to the current model, or the new, full size one coming? The Volt is a low to mid 30's priced car. I don't see Honda pricing the Clarity PHEV at the same price. Saying a mid-30's price and actually publishing one are two different things. I've already seen complaints about the gas tank size. Apparently, combining more of your bathroom breaks with a fuel up on a long trip is an issue for some.
Clarity pricing -- $33,400 msrp to start, touring starts at $36,600. Available nationwide. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sebastianblanco/2017/11/16/2018-honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-33400 -msrp/#4beca68a38a5
