Honda's lineup prospers; Japanese rivals scurry to revise product plans

If there were an award for the smartest and luckiest automaker, Honda probably would have been declared the winner this year.

The spike in gasoline prices has pushed the product programs of some automakers into the shredder. Nissan and Toyota are dialing back their full-sized SUV and pickup programs and also are caught with a surplus of V-8 capacity.

But Honda's conservative product plan was the proper path, after all. Honda ignored dealer and media criticism over the past years that it failed to offer what Americans really wanted: big, body-on-frame, V-8-powered SUVs and pickups.

Nissan is abandoning full-sized truck development, shifting that responsibility along with assembly to a competitor, Dodge. Toyota's plan to be the complete truckmaker, by selling diesel and heavy-duty versions of the Tundra, is on hold.

This installment of Automotive News' annual future-product series reports on Japanese automakers' plans for the 2009-through-2012 model years.

Of course, each automaker is looking for methods to improve fuel economy. For example, the six-speed automatic transmission will be more common, potentially offering about a 6 percent increase in fuel economy over some four-speeds.

One striking contrast is immediately clear: Honda, Nissan and Toyota have plans for more hybrids. But Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki are still searching for a strategy.

Mitsubishi is eyeing a pure electric vehicle for U.S. sales. Nissan is promising such a vehicle in 2010, but sales are likely to be limited to "smile states." Why? Say the range is 100 miles on dry payment — just imagine how the range is reduced when the tires are slipping on snow-covered roads in Maine and Wisconsin.

Some brands are expanding their small-car lineup. New products here include the debut of the Nissan Cube and the likely introduction of the Mazda2. Acura is planning a luxury-car strategy to take on the big dogs. And Suzuki has an aggressive two-vehicle strategy aimed at the Honda Accord and the compact-pickup segment.

Read about each automaker's plans, based on conversations with industry sources.

Source; www.autonews.com