A thing rarely seen

[Cé hé sin]

Honda Accord estate. Accords are no longer sold here so won't be seeing many more.

[e90m3]

@cé-hé-sin That's the same thing as the TSX wagon we got in the states, right?

[Cé hé sin]

@e90m3
Maybe. Google is your friend!

[RallyDarkstrike]

@e90m3 It is, yes! Though the TSX got slightly different fascia and bumpers I think.

[spacekraken]

Mmm reliable longroofs with revvy engines!

[ForSweden]

Buy some petrol yo

[svend]

@e90m3
Yep, 2010 Honda Accord Tourer.

[Cé hé sin]

@spacekraken
They're commonly diesels, so maybe not so revvy!

[WhoIsTheLeader]

They're very rarely seen here as well except they were sold as the Acura TSX.

Woah, that front end is trippy to look at.

The sedans are far far more common.

Did you guys buy a lot of sedans compared to wagons?

[spacekraken]

@cé-hé-sin Okay maybe not! Our TSXes here got the K24 (civic Si 2.4L naturally aspirated) in some form, or an NA V6 for sedans.

[spacekraken]

@whoistheleader said in A thing rarely seen:

They're very rarely seen here as well except they were sold as the Acura TSX.

I have never seen one in this blue! Searched a bit cause it would be a pretty fantastic DD, but not sure blue ones actually exist for sale here lol.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@spacekraken That's why I chose that color. I've seen it on Accords but not on a TSX that I can recall. They did come in that great purple color like Taylor Martin's.

[svend]

@whoistheleader
I can't speak for Ireland but in the U.K. they sold about equally, though the U.K. built earlier fifth gen was a lot more popular.
By the time the seventh gen came about it had lost ground to the more favourable Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Vectra.

[Cé hé sin]

@whoistheleader
Yes, or we did before this whole crossover/CUV thing got going.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@cé-hé-sin @svend So roughly equal percentages of sedan to wagon? They still continue to sell reasonably well here as they've been the go-to midsized-largish family sedan for a long time competing with the Chevy Impala, Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5, and not much else now that everyone else has fled the market it seems.

[svend]

@whoistheleader
Honda was starting to fall out of favour after the fifth gen (made in Swindon, England) stopped production for the Japanese produced vehicles (the Honda Accord stopped being sold in the U.K. in 2015), with sales of the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra, etc... eclipsing those of the Honda. The Honda was looking old compared to the others in the market.

The likes of Ford and Vauxhall also had sporty versions of the Mondeo (ST220 3.0 V6) and Insignia (VXR 2.8 V6).

Here the (just going by strictly saloon bodystyle, not including liftback), Ford Mondeo, Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, VW Passat, Toyota Avensis, Volvo S60, etc... are the more go to saloons.
Other than the Honda Civic (namely the older ones)

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@svend I must admit, that angle of the Alfa Romeo 159 caught me off guard. I have always loved the 156-159 style of Alfas and hope to see one in the flesh once they are available for importation. But that particular angle makes the front overhang look MASSIVE!

Which I guess it kind of is?

Yeah, Japanese brands seem to have really struggled to catch on in Europe. The 6th generation was a pretty good car though and the coupes had that great baby NSX looking rear end. Was them being foreign made that big of a deal?

These things are still all over the place. Then the 7th- 8th gen Accords still had a lot going for them.

They were perhaps a little smaller on the outside than the Impala and Taurus then Fusion, but they had lots of interior room. They didn't so much lose market share as actual volume as people bought more SUVs, but Honda was more than happy to sell you a CRV.

The Passat and 3 Series still sell plenty but Audis are less common. The Avensis appears to be a US Corolla in its current iteration but not so in prior generations. That's a good bit smaller than the rest of them. The Toyota Avalon is about as large as the current Accord but bigger than previous ones.

[svend]

@whoistheleader
With Honda moving Accord production out the U.K. it didn't harm sales in that people turned their baco on Honda, Honda went onto make other cars at the Swindon factory, but fleet sales dropped as they didn't have the incentives of a U.K. built vehicle and U.K. factory built vehicles could be sold to the U.K. public for less than their RRP, when Honda changed the gen of the Civics, they sold the old gen for 40% off.
Japanese vehicles were looking dated or OTT.
Honda were selling things like this,

alongside

At the time Honda were dropping the ball, South Korea were finding their feet.
First building quite plain but solid cars.

Then building more interesting and sporty numbers by 2015 when Honda pulled the Accord.

and these lovely looking things

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@svend Ah yes, the HR-V we didn't get and that I don't miss. Even the next HR-V wasn't a great vehicle.

Too small, not refined enough, and kinda dopey looking.

What is that two door Kia hatchback? Looks a little like a two door Veloster but squished with a Kia front end.

Was the Optima really sporty though? I thought of it as more of a big comfy sedan with no pretensions of sharp handling. It was good looking and comfortable but not very memorable to drive.

I can see how they gained a reputation for staying stuck in the 90s. At the very least their clearcoat stayed in the 90s.

[svend]

@whoistheleader
The sporty looking Kia is a Kia Cee'd GT-Tech.

Later becoming the Kia Pro_Cee'd.
Kia Pro_Cee'd GT.

Though the Pro_Cee'd name has been kept in a way, now the Proceed, it is now a small-midsize estate car.

The Optima wasn't sporty, more it replaced the Honda Accord and had looks that Honda was starting to lack.
The Optima later got a GT spec 235bhp, 2.0.



Though the Optima was discontinued this year.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@svend You got an Optima wagon! I should have known they'd sneak an estate body style to the rest of the world. So you're not getting the K5? It's a very good looking car I think. Especially from the rear.

The Pro C'eed name is eye rolling but the fact that they gave up on the stupid spelling is even more so. Neat little car though. I can't think of a single two door hatch for sale in the US off the top of my head. No two door Golf, no two door Yaris, no nothing.

[svend]

@whoistheleader
We won't get the K5, also the Stinger isn't a big seller here.

Three door cars are a dying breed as companies try to reign in what bodystyles would sell the most.

In the last couple of years we've lost the

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@svend Oh yeah I forgot about the 500 and Cooper continuing to bear the torch for two door hatches here. That's a whole lot of dead models in one year. Sad to see the two door hatches go. Let me see if I can identify these without Google.

Toyota Aygo
Citroen C2
Fiat 500
Ford Fiesta ST
Cooper Hardtop
Peugeot something. 106? IDK alphanumeric soup names.
VW Up!
GR Yaris

And the dead ones.

VW Scirocco
VW Polo (does the four door live on?)
VW GOlf mk7 (no two door for ROW in mk8?)
VW Beetle
Alfa Romeo Mito
Audi. . . . S1???
Audi. . . . S1???
BMW 1 Series hatch
Hyundai i30
Kia Pro C'eed
SEAT Ibizu?
Opel. . . . something
Opel Adam (does the four door remain?)
Vauxhall. . . . something

How'd I do? Some of those are pretty obscure on this side of the Atlantic.

[svend]

@whoistheleader said in A thing rarely seen:

Nicely done.

Toyota Aygo
Citroen C2 ((( as jb boin, pointed out, I overlooked, it's a C1 )))
Fiat 500
Ford Fiesta ST --(ST Edition)
Cooper Hardtop
Peugeot something. 106? IDK alphanumeric soup names. --(108)
VW Up!
GR Yaris
And the dead ones.
VW Scirocco
VW Polo (does the four door live on?) --(the five door hatchback does yes)

VW GOlf mk7 (no two door for ROW in mk8?) --(not as yet)
VW Beetle
Alfa Romeo Mito
Audi. . . . S1??? --(A1)
Audi. . . . S1??? --(A3)
BMW 1 Series hatch
Hyundai i30
Kia Pro C'eed
SEAT Ibizu? --(Leon)
Opel. . . . something --(Adam)
Opel Adam (does the four door remain?) --(Corsa VXR) Only available as five door hatchback

Vauxhall. . . . something --(Astra GTC VXR)
Available as five door hatchback and estate.

I give you 16.5. 15 correct and three halves (the Vauxhalls).

[Jb boin]

And it was a Citroën C1, not a C2.

But it is at the end of it life (with the Peugeot 108) and won't be replaced.