Despite looking like a two-door Prius and packing the Civic e:HEV’s 2.0-liter hybrid engine, the all-new Prelude seems to have struck a nostalgic chord among buyers making it a hit, at least in its home market of Japan.
About a month after its release in its home market, Honda says the total number of orders have reached 2,400 units marking a strong start that’s around eight times its monthly sales target (around 300 units monthly).
Honda has revealed that boomers—customers aged 50s and 60s—have been snapping up the Prelude who’re looking at the electrified sports coupe as a secondary car.
While that sounds like a surprise, it makes sense since Honda isn’t really marketing the Prelude as an outright sportscar. Rather, its geriatric customers have been smitten by it thanks to features like the large cargo hold that can comfortably fit two 440 mm x 240 mm x 670 mm suitcases or two 9.5-inch golf bags.
The country club friendly rear end aside, the Prelude customers have also praised its “wide, low, dynamic, and relaxed proportions” as well as its “excellent suspension and chassis performance.”
Because of its demographic, it’s only natural that the vast number of buyers have been attracted to the more conservative Moonlit White Pearl Color (63 percent), followed by Meteoroid Gray Metallic (16 percent), Crystal Black Pearl (11 percent), and Flame Red (10 percent). Boost Blue, which is a bit young, seems to be the “rare paps” color.
With the grapevine whispers to the impending Honda Prelude Philippine launch getting louder, Honda Cars Philippines could perhaps look at the Japanese market closely for some marketing inspiration. Perhaps it’ll be a great idea to look at the Miata Club of the Philippines perhaps as Prelude intenders as opposed to the typical Toyota GR 86 / Subaru BRZ buyer?
Congrats to Boomers for having the cash to splurge on nice cars.
ReplyDelete50s are Gen X
ReplyDelete60s are Boomers
Please bring the Prelude to the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteA good thing or a problem. Honda used to appeal to the younger crowd with models that are attainable and easy to modify. Going upmarket and "mature" has alienated this demographic. The modded cars you see around are still from that era. Those same guys are now driving Civics clad in Modulo, but their numbers will dwindle. No new converts are joining hence, a headline that looks like the one above.
ReplyDeleteToday’s younger folks are gravitating towards tech-ridden cars. Honda has been more conservative on that end, hence the demographic shift in Honda’s clientele.
DeleteI know this comparison is a stretch but failing to capture younger buyers is one of the big reasons for Jaguar's decline over the years (recent stunts notwithstanding lol). Honda is, of course, more mainstream but companies should be wary of the consequences of stagnating.
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