Honda Exec Downplays Impact of Consumer Reports Trashing

No maker can "always hit them out of the park."

by Paul A. Eisenstein on Aug.30, 2011

Timing is everything – and Mike Accavitti was clearly wondering whether he got it right the day he accepted his new job as head of marketing for American Honda, a couple months back.

That was the same day that the influential Consumer Reports magazine took a potshot at the Honda Civic, declaring that the 2012 remake of the long-popular subcompact, normally one of the non-profit publication’s favorite choices, “now…ranks near the bottom of its category.”

As if to drive the knife deeper, the magazine followed up with a second report raising serious questions about Honda itself. And CR wasn’t alone. The 2012 Honda Civic has received a rash of criticism while the maker itself has come under increasing fire from various media – including TheDetroitBureau.com – faulting it for a variety of issues, including timid design.

Further complicating matters, the maker was hit hard by the earthquake that struck Japan on March 11. The subsequent product shortages have probably reached their worst this month, says Accavitti, a former Chrysler executive.

“For a second, I thought, ‘Holy, moley, what did I get myself into?’” he says with a laugh that betrays his initial concerns. But despite Honda’s recent setbacks, the new marketing chief insists he’s in for a good ride.

“We still respect Consumer Reports, though we disagree with some of their findings,” he told TheDetroitBureau.com in an exclusive interview, comparing the criticism of the maker to the way an A student might be chastised for bringing home a B+. The competition, Accavitti suggested, is like a C student being heralded for getting a B. “Every time you step up to the plate you’re not going to hit them out of the park.”

The new Civic simply reflects the changing realities faced by Honda, which has gone from being a niche player to part of the automotive mainstream over the years. Today, “You have to be a little more conservative than when you have nothing to lose and can risk a roll of the dice,” insisted Accavitti.

In fact, Honda continues to take risks, he suggested, with products like the CR-Z, the Accord CrossTour and the Acura ZDX. While industry analysts might agree, they’d also point out that Honda has largely flopped with most of its recent niche offerings. The ZDX barely registers on the sales charts and aiming to spark new life into the hatchback, Honda has dropped the Accord name and will simply call it CrossTour for 2012.

Honda could boost sales, Accavitti asserted, if it wanted to play by the rules of the competition. But the maker has no intention of bumping up its incentives – as even Japanese arch-rival Toyota has done in a bid to revive lackluster sales – nor will Honda start dumping cars into fleet markets, a familiar tactic when Accavitti was at Chrysler.

“We’ve been hit hard,” said the new Honda vice president, and “August will be the worst month of the year from an industry situation,” but as inventories rebuild, he promises, Honda will show that it can overcome short-term setbacks, including criticism from a powerhouse like Consumer Reports.

Source;

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/08/honda-exec-downplays-impact-of-consumer-reports-trashing/

Honda names former Chrysler exec to steer U.S. marketing

By Mark Rechtin, Crain News Service



LOS ANGELES (Aug. 19, 2011) — American Honda Motor Co. has chosen an outsider and former Chrysler executive Michael Accavitti as its chief marketing officer.



Mr. Accavitti most recently was executive automotive adviser for Cisco Systems, but is better known as the veteran Chrysler executive who was president of the Dodge brand and lead marketing executive of the Chrysler Group before his 2009 departure.



Mr. Accavitti replaces Steve Center, who will lead a new enterprise within American Honda called the Environmental Business Development Office.



Mr. Center has been in Honda’s top U.S. marketing post since June 2008.



Mr. Accavitti inherits an organization that’s battling production shortages stemming from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. American Honda’s U.S. sales have declined 3 percent this year through July in a market that’s up 11 percent.



To retain U.S. customers until stockpiles are replenished, Honda has taken the unusual step of extending leases or offering vouchers or rebates toward the future purchase of a new Honda.



Honda has told its U.S. dealers car and light truck inventories are not expected to return to normal levels until the last quarter or early 2012.



New group

The new environmental group will oversee Honda’s various green business initiatives, from the Fit electric vehicle to solar panel arrays to home co-generation units fueled by natural gas.



“Honda is structured by distribution group, by auto brands, motorcycles, and power equipment.



But these futuristic energy creation groups are transcending those silos,” Mr. Center said in an interview.



With “the dynamics (of) the utility business, you can see that things are starting to break through all the distribution channels,” he added.



Mr. Accavitti first worked for Chrysler starting in 1977. He installed axles on trucks at Chrysler’s Warrren, Mich., truck plant—known as Dodge City—to save money for college. He worked on the line for two years and one summer before starting college.



He rejoined Chrysler in 1984 when the auto maker was hiring engineers and spent time in product marketing, brand management and racing.



At Honda, he will oversee the marketing of the Honda and Acura brands, public relations, auto shows and emerging-markets advertising.



The transition is occurring immediately, although it was announced internally on Aug. 1.

Mr. Accavitti is in the process of relocating to Los Angeles and was not immediately available for comment.



Fresh blood

“You need the fresh blood,” Mr. Center said about the changes. “Fresh thinking is good, but too much and you can lose your culture or focus.”



Last year, Honda extended voluntary retirement offers to certain employees and lost about 50 managers, many of whom had more than 30 years of experience at the company. Center said Honda is “still a very young company.”



Mr. Accavitti will have a full plate awaiting him as Honda strives to recover from the March earthquake.



Because of the earthquake-related inventory crunch that killed the momentum of the spring launch of the Civic, Honda will re-launch the compact car this fall. Also, a redesigned CR-V crossover arrives later this year, and a new Accord comes next spring. Those are three of Honda’s four “pillar” vehicles, Mr. Center said.



Honda brand sales are off 2 percent this year, and Acura sales are down 6 percent.



Like Mr. Center did, Mr. Accavitti will report to Tetsuo Iwamura, president of American Honda. Unlike other auto makers, Honda separates its auto operations—such as product development, product planning and marketing—from auto sales, which covers distribution, wholesale and retail and is overseen by executive vice president John Mendel.



Mr. Center, 54, joined Honda in 1993 as part of Dick Colliver’s team of transplants from Mazda North American Operations. Mr. Mendel was formerly executive vice president and chief operating officer for Mazda North America before joining Honda in 2004.



Mr. Center’s career has included managerial positions in market support, e-business, Acura sales, advertising and public relations.



The Environmental Business Development Office will receive additional staff, but Mr. Center declined to give further details.



He called it “a combination of a brain trust, think tank and venture capital firm.”



Source;

http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/headlines2.phtml?cat=1204552929&headline=Honda+names+former+Chrysler+exec+to+steer+U.S.+marketing&id=1313763465