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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Jeff Silverberg, general manager of Maroone Honda of Hollywood, Fla., stands by a Fit, the most popular selling model in the Honda lineup. He said that his dealership sells the subcompacts as fast as he can get them in.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, July 3, 2008 Honda's fuel-efficient lineup attracts consumers Associated Press DETROIT -- When consumers astonished the U.S. auto industry two months ago by quickly shunning trucks and going for gas mileage, the biggest beneficiary ended up being Honda Motor Co. The No. 2 Japanese automaker, with the most fuel- efficient model lineup in the industry, never put both feet into the U.S. truck market, instead focusing on slow-but-steady growth with popular cars such as the Civic and the Accord. It paid off in June. While its major competitors reported double-digit sales declines and burgeoning truck and sport utility vehicle inventories, Honda had a modest 1 percent sales increase. Its car sales were up almost 20 percent from the same month last year, and the Civic and Accord were among the industry's top sellers. "They are better positioned than anybody in terms of the products they have for this kind of environment," said Ron Harbour, a partner with the Oliver Wyman Group and author of a widely respected annual report on auto factory productivity. Klein Honda of Everett set a sales record in May and broke that record in June, said Jerry Powers, general manager of the dealership, which has been in business for 32 years. "I think it's just the brand," Powers said. Honda vehicles are a "great value," especially at time when most Snohomish County residents have high fuel prices on their minds, he said. Powers doesn't expect sales to slow in July. Through the holiday weekend, Honda will offer financing as low as 1.9 percent for 36 months on its Civic model. Both the Civic and the Accord models continue to be favorites among car buyers at the Everett dealership, making it difficult at times for Klein Honda to keep those models in stock. The Honda Fit also is selling well. "We still have quite a selection," Powers said. But while Honda may look like it can peer into the future, the company's top U.S. executive says it is well-positioned for $4-per-gallon gasoline because it always has emphasized small, fuel-efficient vehicles. "We're not geniuses," John Mendel, the company's U.S. executive vice president, said Wednesday. "We're consistent." Industry analysts say Honda has managed to avoid the sales crisis that has hit the Detroit Three and even Toyota Motor Corp. for two reasons. Although it makes SUVs and a small pickup, it has a strong lineup of cars that get good gas mileage. And its factories are so flexible that it can quickly make more of the vehicles that are in demand. "We can reprogram it to make it build more Civics," Mendel said. "That's by far one of our competitive advantages." On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Detroit Three, most with too few small car models and each caught with well over half their factories building trucks at a time when the market has shifted to 56 percent cars and 44 percent trucks. GM and Chrysler have announced plans to close truck and minivan factories, and Ford is expected to announce specific cutbacks later this month.

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