Honda offers facelift of slow-selling CR-Z sports hybrid

by Hans Greimel of www.autonews.com

TOKYO -- Honda Motor Co. hopes a facelift will give a sales lift to one of its weakest entries: the CR-Z sporty hybrid.

A revamped version will go on sale in Japan in October and is expected to hit U.S. showrooms sometime the following month.

The update gets a more sculpted front fascia with a wing-like lip that cups the grille and flares around enlarged fog lights.

Similarly dynamic flourishes adorn the rear, while the back tires are pushed out to give it a more planted, solid stance.

Inside, designers swapped the lever-style parking brake between the front seats for an electric one. That enabled them to add a diver’s armrest. Engineers also bumped up the size of the disc brakes to 15 inches, from 14 inches, and rolled out new, more open wheel designs to better show off the new hardware.

Chief engineer Terukazu Torikai said the upgrade shows Honda’s commitment to the low-volume CR-Z, which is Honda’s slowest seller after the Insight hybrid and Ridgeline pickup, both of which were discontinued for the 2015 model year.

Fun and green

The CR-Z is a signature Honda car because it embodies the company’s mission to engineer fun-to-drive environmentally friendly cars, Torikai said at its unveiling today in Tokyo.

“It basically has no competitors, it the only sports hybrid,” Torikai said. He said it has small but fanatical following.

Critics say the CR-Z is a compromise car: Not sporty enough for a sports car, nor green enough for a hybrid.

U.S. sales of the CR-Z dropped 34 percent to 1,562 vehicles through July. The CR-Z was outsold both by the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle and the Chevrolet Volt range-extender hybrid.

Torikai said he hopes the facelift will keep the nameplate’s annual U.S. sales into the range of 3,000 to 5,000 vehicles.

Honda sold 3,562 CR-Zs in the U.S. last year.

No LEDs

One Japan-market upgrade the U.S. overhaul won’t get is a new set of all-LED headlamps. U.S. product planners passed on the LEDs in order to keep costs down, Torikai said.

The wider rear stance, newly sculpted nose and armrest should be enough to stoke interest in the minor model change, he said.

Other additions include a touch-panel audio screen and active noise cancellation technology to reduce road noise.

But that doesn’t mean Honda always wants a quiet cabin. The new sound system also has an engine amplifier that pumps in revving sounds for extra exhilaration when you punch the gas. Honda hopes that will deliver more pulse-quickening rides, despite the fact the drivetrain remains unchanged, with around 130 hp.

The CR-Z is manufactured at Honda’s Suzuka factory in Japan.

Despite persistent speculation that Honda may one day offer a non-hybrid version of the CR-Z equipped with a more powerful gasoline engine, Torikai said keeping it hybrid is key.

Of a souped-up all-gasoline variant like the old school CR-X, Torikai said: “There are no plans for that whatsoever.”  (talk about missing the mark)

Source;
http://www.autonews.com/article/20150827/OEM04/150829908/honda-offers-facelift-of-slow-selling-cr-z-sports-hybrid