NEW YORK: Two-thirds of Honda SUV drivers in the US trade in their vehicle for another Honda.
It’s an iPhone-like level of loyalty seldom seen in the brutal business of making and selling cars - and it’s enabled the automaker’s first electric vehicle to quickly cut into Tesla’s supremacy.
Honda sold roughly 13,000 Prologues, its mid-sized electric SUV, in the three months ending Sept 30.
While that’s still below the market share of Tesla’s Model Y - the top-selling electric SUV - the Prologue was the No. 5 result among US EVs, as the rig won over a wave of electric-curious drivers who had been waiting for an affordable alternative to Tesla from their favoured car brand.
MeLissa Jones, a 45-year-old software developer in Utah, isn’t overly concerned about air quality or climate change, but she does love a Honda. The Pacific Blue Prologue that she got in June is her 19th.
"It’s not that I really like electric, it’s just that I wanted the new Honda to try it out,” Jones said.
We drove it as soon as (the dealer) got one in.”
So far, her biggest gripe is that her husband keeps stealing it and he won’t let her take Riggs, the couple’s 61kg American Bully XL, for a ride. "He doesn’t want him licking the windows,” she explained. Harsh but fair.
At Paragon Honda in Queens, the petrol-powered CR-V is typically the top-seller, according to finance manager Larry Abreu. In September the dealership moved one Prologue for every three CR-Vs, in part because a stack of incentives made them virtually the same price.
"There’s just so much value, it’s hard to pass up,” Abreu explained.
Much of the Prologue’s draw lies in just how unremarkable it is. Its starting price - before incentives or fancier options like all-wheel drive - is US$47,400 (RM208,000), just US$400 (RM1,753) less than the average market value of all US cars in September, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Unlike many EVs, the Prologue’s performance will set no one’s hair on fire, but it does feature thoughtful and elevated details of the kind Honda evangelists have come to love.
There’s a huge storage bin under the centre console, for example, a massive sunroof, a supersized smartphone charging pad and a rash of buttons and knobs to preclude a flatscreen hunt-and-peck typical of the Tesla driving experience.
Unlike most Hondas, however, the Prologue will skip the gas station and, for the most part, the mechanic.
EVs, which don’t need oil changes or air filters, require almost US$1,000 (RM4,382) less to maintain every year than similar petrol-powered models, according to AAA. Honda is already one of the most reliable auto brands, and adding a new vehicle to the lineup that’s even more reliable is a nifty engineering trick.
When asked why they chose a Prologue, Honda buyers cite trust in the brand followed by value, according to company spokeswoman Natalie Kumaratne.
What’s more, almost two-thirds of Prologue buyers have owned a Honda before and nearly 80% have never had an EV.
Mike Eppink traded in his 2022 Honda Pilot - a full-size SUV - for the Prologue, in part to save money on petrol. His 14-year-old son plays travel baseball, and shuttling to and from practices and games was burning US$250 (RM1,096) a month.
"I like where the electric cars are going and they’re really not that expensive once you really look into the numbers,” Eppink says. "Our monthly payment went up a bit, but with the gas savings, mentally, we still feel like we’re saving.”
For all the talk of an EV slowdown in the US, third quarter sales suggest there is a large crowd of drivers who were simply waiting for more affordable options or for new battery-powered machines from established brands.
US drivers bought 346,309 battery-powered cars and trucks in July, August and September, a 5% increase from the prior quarter and an 11% jump from the year-earlier period, according to Cox automotive.
EVs comprised 9% of new US car sales in the third quarter, the highest level on record and Cox sees one in 10 vehicles being electric as "well within reach.”
Tesla retained its electric street cred, delivering nearly 167,000 vehicles, including almost 17,000 Cybertrucks.
However, its market share continued to swoon below 50% as more affordable machines from Cadillac, Chevrolet, Honda and others picked up EV-curious customers.
Chevrolet, in particular, saw momentum grow with its Equinox and Blazer collectively drawing almost 18,000 buyers in the quarter.
While the Prologue is more affordable than the average US car, both of those new Chevys are cheaper still.
