You failed because you sucked... especially fuel

I was watching a TV program about cars last weekend, when they reviewed the new Honda Insight as compared to the new version (2010) of the Toyota Prius. The automobile journalists concluded that Honda missed the boat with the new Insight, because the new Prius has much more to offer technology-wise and ups the ante on performance and economy. Whereas the Honda Insight, which was marketed as a 'Prius Killer', barely keeps up with the last generation of Prius cars. Based on what Ihave seen, I tend to agree.

The journalists also spoke with American representatives from Toyota and Honda. The Honda rep said that they tried a hybrid version of the Accord, but it just didn't sell. Their conclusion is that America wasn't ready for the Acord hybrid. I beg to differ, as the Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry hybrids seem to be doing alright. So why did the Accord hybrid fail? Simple. It didn't offer the added economy that drivers were looking for from the hybrid model. Honda made the mistake of building a V6 Accord with hybrid added, but the hybrid technology was tuned for performance - not economy. Had they built an Accord hybrid with a 4 cylinder, tuned for economy, they might have done better. Keep in mind the extra cost of hybrids. Consumers won't be able to justify that extra cost if the benefits don't outweigh that extra cost.

But the proof is in the numbers: (these are 2007 model year figures)

Each row shows the model, then City mileage, then Highway mileage, then the increase in City mileage over the regular version of the car

Toyota Prius 60 51
Toyota Camry (4 cyl) 21 30
Toyota Camry Hybrid 40 38 90%
Nissan Altima (4 cyl) 23 31
Nissan Altima Hybrid 42 36 83%
Honda Civic (4 cyl) 25 36
Honda Civic Hybrid 49 51 96%
Honda Accord (4 cyl) 21 31
Honda Accord Hybrid 28 35 33%

So as you can see, switching to a hybrid model of each car earns you an increase in city mileage of at least 83%. But not the Accord. An increase of 33% as compared to the other models is poor justification to spend the extra $5000+.

And that is why the Accord Hybrid failed.