Motor Trend just announced their Car of the Year and surprise, surprise...it's a Honda!! The Civic not only beat out the Fusion but also the new BMW 3 series.

http://motortrend.com/features/news/112_ne...year/index.html

 

How does this NOT suprise me . All the auto publications just gush all over the imports and rairly ever praise american makes of cars, with the exception of a few. If you read the latest Car & Driver, when they tested the Fusion against the Accord, Camry, and Sonata, they showed their true allegance (sp.) to the Honda. It always happens.

 

I think the Benz CLS should have won...it's beautiful

 

MT (to Honda-or any other Japanese import mfr.) kiss, kiss, s*ck s*ck...


However, I do think the new Civic is kind of cool but I gotta wonder if FoMoCo would have had the stones to bring the euroFocus here if things would have been the same.

 

i dunno guys, every time a non-american car gets any kind of good review over an american car, you just don't stop hearing claims of bias. I don't buy it! Just try counting how many times the mustang or ford GT has been on the cover of Motor Trend over the past year! I"m almost certain its about half... I'll go through them tonight to count. If these guys hated ford and preferred honda, how come we haven't seen a single honda on the cover of motor trend over the past year, except for maybe a small picture of the civic on the new cars issue. and i suppose possibly this COTY issue.

I'm not gonna get all pissed off, especially not until i actually read their write up. One thing to think of: all in the same year, the civic came out as a sedan, a coupe, a higher performance coupe, AND a hybrid! Maybe if the the fusion came out with the AWD and hybrid options, as well as the fusion GT variant all this year, I would start getting pissed before even reading the article. But its looking like we'll be waiting at least a year for any of these options, if not more.

As for bias against ford... consider this one: comparing the viper, z06 and the GT, the GT was a bit faster in acceleration, and pretty much behind in all the other performance aspects, like the figure 8, skid pad, slalom, braking, it costs twice as much as either of the other cars, and the first GT broke down during their testing and they had to get a replacement, but they still gave the nod to the GT. I still like to think these guys do a good job of being unbiased and that they chose the GT considering certain factors working against it in the testing that they explain, and considering the awesome presence that car has. But if Motor Trend were biased AGAINST ford, i think the outcome of that little test might've been different.

The COTY tests are conducted by like a dozen road testers, I doubt you could find a consensus for their personal favourite brand.

 

Civic? What's wrong with people today?

 

I dunno, saw a Civic 4-door yesterday, kind of looked like a new-edge influenced Acura or something. I figured the 3-series would have K'ed some A for COTY honors. I think they judge based on how much the car has improved over the last generation model (or the one it replaces) and how it compares to others in its market segment. I wonder how much better the Fusion really is in build quality, NVH, and reliability compared to the Taurus? Looks-wise, no contest. I think it looks better than the Five Hundred. If Ford dropped in the new 3.5 liter V-6 engine at launch, maybe the outcome would have been different.

 

I know what you mean Jeff! Albeit redesigned the Civic really doesn't seem like it should be a contender for COTY :scratch: I think the Fusion or CLS would have been much more deserving of the award

 

ya, they usually base part of their decision in the significance of the car. I'd say the fusion definitely has the civic beat out on that front. The fusion is holding an entire company's future in its hands. The civic is an overhaul of an established best seller, which is pretty significant, but not nearly as much as the fusion. I still think that onslaught of 4 different models, including a hybrid, gave the civic the edge.

 

Ummmmm, that's because Honda builds a better car and equips it with features people want. The Civic is an econobox, yet you can order NAV on it this year. Try ordering NAV on a Fusion; I think not.

I keep saying this till I'm blue in the face: If Ford wants the awards and the kudos and the sales, it's got to STOP PLAYING THE JAPANESE GAME, AND START PLAYING ITS OWN GAME. Stop being followers and start being leaders. REDEFINE the market segment, don't copy it! The Fusion tries to be just another Accord/Camry follower, and while it does an admirable job, it's not likely to lure Honda or Toyota buyers away unless they've been dissatisfied with their purchases, which is unlikely.

What Ford needs to do is give us cars more like their European offerings, or carve an exciting new niche into this market segment with something like an Iosis.

They need to start playing to win...not just playing to catch up.

Innovate, don't copy.

 

Hey BC, not everyone out there wants to have or has to have a NAV system in their car. I have been selling Fords for 9 years, and the percentage of people who come in asking for one in their Focus, or 500 (or Fusion) is rather small (at least it is in our area. Other dealers may have different clientel.). More and more people who want these are getting the portable ones, that can go from car to car. These have more flexibility, and seem to be more worth it. Personally, for $2,000 or so (the cost for a NAV in the new Explorer), I don't need one THAT badly. Just give me a Rand/McNally and or a Mapblast.com view, and I'll get there.

 

NAV systems are just another way of distracting the unattentive driver. Most peole who have these are already too busy with their Blackberrys and Bluetooth devices to pay attention to driving anyway!

Some of us do not need to spend $800+ to get where we are going.

I agree with Jeff.

I know how to read a map!!!

 

Hey Jeff (Mustangsalad). I understand that the GT has been on the cover of alot of magazines recently, but it you saw my post, you'll note that I said "with the exception of a few". This meaning the GT, Mustang, etc. If you read MT's SUVOTY, they pretty much trashed the Explorer for not being more of an off road vehicle. Not many people come in here looking to take their Explorers down a washed out wilderness trail. And if you had read the recent Car & Driver comparo with the Fusuon, the said the Fusion had alot of road noise, and was critical about it. Then when you read the Accord write-up review, they said, in as few of words, that the Accord "translates" alot of road info to the driver. They said, call it road noise or some Honda driver responsiveness crap. Either way you slice it, the Accord had road noise but they didn't play it up like they did on the Fusion. That is what I am talking about.

 

I couldn't agree with you more Jeff! Though the Nav systems are nice, they really aren't in such a high demand for passeger cars. I have NEVER had a customer say that they would like Nav in their Focus.

The only market that I have had for Nav systems are some Limited 500's and Explorers.

Though the Garmin and Tom-Tom systems may not be as efficient as the industry Nav systems across the board of all companies, they are inexpensive in comparison and like Jeff said, they are portable!

That and the Civics are supposed to be inexpensive transportation, tacking on another $2k is just defeating the whole purpose of the marketing of the vehicle.

Its ironic that you say that since about, oh say, 70% of the new buyers we have had for the Fusions (which are flying off the lot almost faster than they can go through PDI) are trading in their older Camry's, Accord's, Altima's.

The rest are made of previous Taurus owners who have not already made the switch to the 500 or also Chevy and Chrysler owners.

 

It's interesting to see what's happening in reality from actual car salesmen who are selling cars to customers in contrast to the opinions of people on the outside (BC Shelby).

 

Why would they class the fusion in the class of a civic to start with? There is no comparison the Fusion is hands down a better car than a civic. More room, leather seats, v6. Have you looked at the seats on a new civic? They look like kirky race seats they are so thin. The fusion is a competitor of the accord/camry/altima. If your so worried to get navigation get a lincoln zephyr. They are roughly the same money as an accord. The wife and I have been looking lately and we will definately be getting either a Zephyr. I have a friend who works at honda as a service tech and he said that the pre 2003 models are great but when they changed they went down hill fast.

 

Wow, I had no idea there were so many technophobes here.

I agree, if you live in a rural area, or a small city with which you're familiar, you probably don't need NAV.

But if you live in a large, rapidly growing metropolitan area, NAV is a huge advantage, and I've wished on several occasions that I had it.

Maps don't automatically route and re-route you in real time with verbal commands, making NAV more precise and FAR more safe.

And NAV can find the nearest ATM or gas station if you're on a long trip. Try doing THAT with a map!

I doubt Honda just "threw it on" as an option without doing the requisite market research to see if there were enough customers who wanted it. And clearly their research demonstrated that people do. Nothing happens in a vaccum.

Well, almost nothing.

 

I think that navigation is an ok idea but for the price its not worth it. I cant justify spending 18-2400 dollars on navigation. Maybe when they bring it into the 5-800 dollar price range I will think about it.

 

Nobody put the fusion in the same class as the civic. The motor trend car of the year competition includes a lot of different cars.

 

NAV--i don't get it on any car. A road map,Thomas Brothers, or a call to my destination for directions ahs always worked for me. No way am I ever going shell out a dime for one of these systems.

As for COTY, I think the new Civic deserves it.