Toyota to Honda: You can have midsize coupe market. We out (sorta)
The market for midsize coupes has always been a volatile segment. In a culture obsessing with The New, the hairdressers of the world are likely to trade up their two-door barges for something of the SUV or crossover variety.
Toyota Motor Sales exec, Jim Lentz, recognizes this trend and feels that the automaker's development dollars could be put to better use. So in an interview with Ward's Auto, Lentz alluded to the fact that the Solara will likely be dropped from Toyota's lineup in the near future.
That said, Honda's unveiling of its Accord Coupe concept in Detroit counters that claim, accompanied by Honda's own data that maintains there will be a 34-percent growth in the segment within the next four years. What does Honda know that Toyota doesn't? That's something we doubt will keep Toyota execs up at night.
[Source: Ward's Auto]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Slippery Pete 8:39AM (1/19/2007)
The Solara (sorry...CAMRY Solara) was always one of the fugliest cars on the road and a lousy driver, from what I've read. Meh. Good luck to Honda. Can't wait to see the new Accord.
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Howard Kerr 8:48AM (1/19/2007)
Interesting...Toyota drops the Solara coupe/convertible just as Nissan decides to (FINALLY) build/sell an Altima Coupe.
I'm hopeful that this market segment is about to add some growth, but 34% may not be all that many sales in a small market.
As far as I know, neither Toyota nor Honda sell many of these "mid-size" coupes outside of the U.S. (I'm not sure if I read once that Honda sells the Accord coupe in a few overseas markets.)
Toyota is just doing what many other manufacturers have done when they wanted to maximize profits..."killed" all marginal models to concentrate on the huge sellers. Remember, Ford did the same thing in the mid to late '90s? It wasn't all that long ago that Toyota had a showroom with 2 or 3 sporty 2 door CARS. Gone the mighty Supra, gone the sporty Celica, gone the rorty MR-2......killed because their numbers didn't meet some necessary (arbitrary?) break even point.
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GOKARTN 9:12AM (1/19/2007)
Toyota is right...
...there is no market for ugly, dull midsize coupes. It's a good thing they are dropping theirs. As stated above, there are no sporty Toyota's. I guess they are just going to make appliance cars.
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jgp 9:24AM (1/19/2007)
I'm not surprised. Coupes generally don't sell, especially coupes that aren't sports cars, and especially big coupes.
Then there's the fact that the Solara is one of the ugliest cars on the road doesn't help. Looking at that picture above reminds me of why I hate the Solara. Most Toyotas are just bland and boring, but this is outright offensive to my eyes. They've no chance in the market anymore: the Altima coupe is beautiful, and if the new Accord coupe looks anything like the concept, it'll be quite pretty as well.
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JarryHames 9:43AM (1/19/2007)
I think that Honda has always been more successful with their coupes. The Civic Coupe has been hot for many years and until this current model, The Accord Coupe. I had several friends that owned Civic Coupes and they loved it. I also had a '95 Accord Coupe and it was a great car. The new Accord and Altima Coupes are some sharp looking vehicles. It will be interesting to see how they sell over the next few years. It looks like Toyota is only concerned about their Camry. The Camry Solara never sold like the sedan by any means. The current model is just ugly!!! I saw in another post where someone mentioned that they should take it to the Lexus line. I doubt that they would ever consider it.
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whofan 9:25AM (1/19/2007)
Honda makes everything Toyota does look like crap!
I`m pro domestic but I can`t blame anyone for wanting a Honda Accord.
Toyota Camry, I can`t believe it`s the best selling car.
Toyota is more of a truck company they some how manage to fly under the radar on this.
Cheak out an Impala or Fusion.
If you have to drive a import buy a Honda!
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Jeff the Baptist 9:27AM (1/19/2007)
The big problem is that the "midsize" segment has been expanding in vehicle size for years. People who buy coupes want something at least marginally sporty. Coupes built on the current chassis are just too big.
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HotRod 9:36AM (1/19/2007)
You think Honda caught wind of this? I bet they did. That may explain their 34% projection, assuming that Solara sales were close to the Accoupe's then they may have decided they should get at least a third of those sales, with the other 2/3 possibly going to the new Altima Coupe.
Sounds like Toyota really is starting to act like GM. The competition is about to release a new, much improved model in a 'niche' segment where their product is soft. So Toyota folds. WWGMD?
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whofan 9:35AM (1/19/2007)
GM fired the design team for the Pontiac Aztek. Toyota hired them for the new Camry.
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Michael Karesh 9:51AM (1/19/2007)
The character and image of Hondas makes them more suitable as coupes.
Interestingly, Nissan has taken a much different approach with its coupe, dramatically shortening the wheelbase compared to the sedan to enhance agility. The downside is that the rear seat is pretty much useless for adults--no headroom for me, and I'm just 5-9.
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The Other Justin 9:49AM (1/19/2007)
I guess I'm the odd man out. I was actually in the market for specifically a mid size coupe. I liked the interior space of a 4 door sedan with the somewhat sportier looking outside of a 2-door (plus I've always felt like 2 doors have a lot more space for the driver, i sit pretty far back from the wheel). I realize they're hardly on par performance-wise with a rear-wheel drive sports car, but on a limited budget these suit pretty nicely.
I found my options pretty narrow, basically a contest between the Solara and the Accord coupe. I was looking at last gen...settled on the 99 Accord Coupe. I know people are pretty much hating on the Solara, but I felt the newest one actually looked better than the newer Accord, however for the generation I was looking at the Accord won hands down.
So long Solara...
I'm curious to see how the new Altima and Accord coupes do in the market. I'll be needing a new car soon.
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Jim in Tampa 9:54AM (1/19/2007)
The Honda Accord coupe shown on AUTOBLOG on January 8th was sweet!!!! No wonder Toyota bailed on the market.
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Tool 10:19AM (1/19/2007)
The original Solara was supposed to be a Lexus coupe. Notice that it had up-level interior and styling.
Toyota has a hard time selling stuff like that. Even the Genesis Marketing Group (pre-Scion group) tried to market fun and sporty to reach a youth market. Didn't work.
Despite this, I am surprised that Toyota is exiting the mid-size coupe market, as fickle as it is. I guess the wonderkids in product planning know more than me.
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Sean Flanagan 10:21AM (1/19/2007)
This really is no surprise. What is surprising is how long it took them to cancel the model. Toyota dropped the Camry Coupe in 1997, the same year that American honda introduced the Acura CL. The Solara was really a response to the CL (and the surprisingly strong reaction to it) when it first came out, and nearly paralleled the Acura in terms of pricing, features, and equipment, excluding the base model. However, American Honda dropped the CL nearly 5 years ago when they decided that the Accord Coupe had come too far upscale and would cannibalize sales of the CL.
Still, the first-generation Solara rotted on the vine even as a brand new Accord coupe came out in 2003. I was convinced that Toyota would drop the Solara then, but they came out with a new generation. The first generation lingered for 7 years, and the current generation has been around for 4 and already will not be able to keep up with the competition in another year.
Another surprise is that this means Toyota was not working on a Solara model parallel to the Camry sedan for this generation, as they did with the last generation. It seems like they made their mind up about this even as the last generation went on sale.
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hondacura 10:49AM (1/19/2007)
Solora is not a ugly car. It's way better than Chevy Monica. That is an ugly outdated car. Toyota sales of Solora must've dropped significantly where it isn't worth pursuing.
Thank God for Honda!
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Piter 10:29AM (1/19/2007)
I will wait for the TSX coupe. I want something bigger than a Civic coupe, but, not as big as an accord (accord in coupe form is too big).
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MC 10:38AM (1/19/2007)
...and rumor is that Kia is developing an Optima coupe to compete with the new Altima and Accord. Hyundai will probably follow with a Sonata coupe in 08 or 09.
If Toyota could redesign the Solara into something not-so-fugly, than they'd have a chance, but if they are not willing to do that, than they can suffer the consequences.
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aaron 11:01AM (1/19/2007)
Well I'll go with Toyota on this one. I don't see the mid sized coupe market as a real brass ring for them.
they have talked about bringing out a supra that won't price itself out of existance, which is a better use of funds IMHO.
The Solara was nary a car that could have been considered awesome. An appliance of a midsized coupe.
Monte carlos look at the solara and say... I'm so sorry.
As for the accord.. not alot about accord sales this past year were stellar - let alone coupe sales I would submit.
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Victor 10:42AM (1/19/2007)
current solarahhhhhh has a rear end of a pt cruiser (just look at the lights) ugly and dull
the funny thing, owners of this car actually think they are sporty even with skirts and their mags & must drive all the time with foglamps
the accord coupe has always been a nicer looker & more sporty character!
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weezer 10:45AM (1/19/2007)
How anyone can write an entire article on this subject and omit the awesome Nissan Altima Coupe is amazing! In stores near you next month and not one mention from Ward's... a terrible oversight.
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