Honda Clarity Going Out Of Production Due To Weak Demand

Sulu

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If that had a hatch and normal rear wheel wells maybe it would have sold more? I’ve never seen one on the road.
I doubt it. Americans do not like hatchbacks, especially large hatchbacks (unless they are labelled and sold as crossovers).

That brings up another point. The Clarity had a very high trunk lid, and in a typical Honda solution-to-a-self-made-problem approach, it made some -- to me -- funny design solutions.

As can be seen in the first picture, Honda placed a window in the trunk lid, between the third stop lamp and chrome crossbar (where the Honda badge is); and, as seen in the second picture, to allow the driver to see through that trunk lid window, Honda placed a window between the 2 rear headrests. That allowed the driver to see through the trunk and out the back. But Honda could just have designed a lower trunk lid and lower rear parcel shelf and avoided the expense of that "solution".

The Toyota Prius uses a similar window-in-trunklid (see the third picture) but because the Prius is a hatchback with a cargo area is a open to the passenger compartment (and no hard rear parcel shelf), there is no need for another window between the rear seat headrests.

Honda-Clarity_Plug-In_Hybrid-2018-800-02.jpg
Honda Clarity's window-in-trunklid.

Honda-Clarity_Plug-In_Hybrid-2018-800-05.jpg
Honda Clarity's window-in-rear-parcel-shelf

Toyota-Prius-2010-800-0e.jpg
2010 Toyota Prius rear window
 
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I don't remember seeing the Clarity anywhere, except in the showroom.
Last time I really noticed one, it was at the Clarity Ride and Drive event I went to in 2018 and got to try both FC and Plug in versions...so much for attracting more buyers. This was marginally nicer looking than the first Mirai, but that's not saying much.
 

maiaramdan

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Honestly, Regarding to Clarity Fuel-Cell, it is not bad at all, and it's not Honda's fault that USofA is fighting against FCHV
Honestly, if USofA was fair and just want to be open to all green power, why for GOD sake they don't pay and make Hydrogen stations as they made and pay Electric power stations?
 

carguy420

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I don't understand why Honda bothered to dump so much money and resources into developing so types of electrified powertrains by themselves, did they forget they are only half the size of Toyota? Do they not realize that most people that want electrified mainstream vehicles just go straight to Toyota instead of them? Did they forget that people loved them for their screaming, high revving engines and not because of their environmentalists pleasing hybrids? And they still wonder why the new NSX, Clarity and CR-Z are sales flops.
 

Sulu

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I don't understand why Honda bothered to dump so much money and resources into developing so types of electrified powertrains by themselves, did they forget they are only half the size of Toyota? Do they not realize that most people that want electrified mainstream vehicles just go straight to Toyota instead of them? Did they forget that people loved them for their screaming, high revving engines and not because of their environmentalists pleasing hybrids? And they still wonder why the new NSX, Clarity and CR-Z are sales flops.
Honda, like all other automakers, has to research alternative (EV and FCEV) powertrains or risk going out of business due to obsolete powertrain technology.

What I find interesting is that Honda is now partnering with GM for EV and FCEV technology.
 

carguy420

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Honda, like all other automakers, has to research alternative (EV and FCEV) powertrains or risk going out of business due to obsolete powertrain technology.

What I find interesting is that Honda is now partnering with GM for EV and FCEV technology.
The things is quite a few of Honda's electrified vehicles aren't all that good, the CR-Z looks faster than it actually is and what's beneath that sporty exterior is a just Jazz platform. The Insight is a bit of sales flop, 1st gen too quirky, 2nd gen overshadowed by the Prius, before morphing into basically a Civic Hybrid but slightly fancier. The creatively named Honda E is expensive, yet the range is terrible, below average compared to its rivals, and guess what, its crash protection is pretty average for a modern car, scoring only 76% in adult occupant protection in Euro NCAP's crash tests, you might even mistake those results for an econobox made for developing countries. The new NSX is probably the least desirable supercar currently on sale and it looks like an R8 wannabe.

It's like Honda wants to make these cars but they either don't have quite a big enough budget or they think more about how they themselves want the car to be like versus what the customers want.
 
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Ian Schmidt

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It's like Honda wants to make these cars but they either don't have quite a big enough budget or they think more about how they themselves want the car to be like versus what the customers want.
I miss 90s Honda. I don't know what changed - Toyota was in a similar boat for a while but their current lineup is quite good once again.
 
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I miss 90s Honda. I don't know what changed - Toyota was in a similar boat for a while but their current lineup is quite good once again.
Well, I'm actually pretty impressed by the new Accord & Civic. Test drove the Accord hybrid last week, and when winding that engine (2.0l, NA, port-injected) out, the sound is so much better (at least to my ear) than the drone coming out of the Toyota 2.5 hybrid engines as they rev high.
And I'm really looking forward to trying the Civic hatch manual when they show up (and not just the Si/R). I'm curious what engines they match up with it. I really do like the 2.0 NA one.
 

carguy420

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I miss 90s Honda. I don't know what changed - Toyota was in a similar boat for a while but their current lineup is quite good once again.
Just the development phase for the new NSX already ate up a massive chunk of Honda's bank account, building a completely new factory in the US just to manufacture their new supercar and then later met with abysmal sales. Just this project alone is more than enough to properly hurt Honda's wallet. I don't even know if they're even getting close to recouping the R&D cost of the new NSX.

IMO Toyota spent their money a lot more wisely than Honda during that era, I guess someone forgot that they're only half the size of Toyota.
 

mikeavelli

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I doubt it. Americans do not like hatchbacks, especially large hatchbacks (unless they are labelled and sold as crossovers).

That brings up another point. The Clarity had a very high trunk lid, and in a typical Honda solution-to-a-self-made-problem approach, it made some -- to me -- funny design solutions.

As can be seen in the first picture, Honda placed a window in the trunk lid, between the third stop lamp and chrome crossbar (where the Honda badge is); and, as seen in the second picture, to allow the driver to see through that trunk lid window, Honda placed a window between the 2 rear headrests. That allowed the driver to see through the trunk and out the back. But Honda could just have designed a lower trunk lid and lower rear parcel shelf and avoided the expense of that "solution".

The Toyota Prius uses a similar window-in-trunklid (see the third picture) but because the Prius is a hatchback with a cargo area is a open to the passenger compartment (and no hard rear parcel shelf), there is no need for another window between the rear seat headrests.

View attachment 4874
Honda Clarity's window-in-trunklid.

View attachment 4875
Honda Clarity's window-in-rear-parcel-shelf

View attachment 4876
2010 Toyota Prius rear window

I disagree, Americans buy hatches. Prius sells, their own civic hatch sells and the Audi A5/S5 and A7/S7 sell etc etc
The Clarity is even uglier than the previous Mirai and current Prius. That’s no small feat. Seeing it in person your first instinct is to puke.

The article states the plant is closing in Japan. That same factory makes the Honda Legend. So
Sad
 
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carguy420

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I disagree, Americans buy hatches. Prius sells, their own civic hatch sells and the Audi A5/S5 and A7/S7 sell etc etc
The Clarity is even uglier than the previous Mirai and current Prius. That’s no small feat. Seeing it in person your first instinct is to puke.

The article states the plant is closing in Japan. That same factory makes the Honda Legend. So
Sad
Now looking back to the past, Honda has dumped a lot of money into a bunch of dead end projects, I bet the Honda E won't have a fate that's any better than its failed siblings.