for what its worth the move to japan will result in better quality, they treat there employees much better so the employees take more ownership of the product-hate to say it being american and all. I own a 1990 toyota x cab 4x4 truck built in Japan with vin starting with JT and my friend love it so much he got the exact same truck built in 1992 with the vin starting in AM, built in ohio- my truck has 275K miles with zero problems, zero squeeks and I POUND my truck hard, I treat it like a large ULT quad. His has rattles everywhere and he pampers the thing. Both of us bought them brand new.

 

Honda has gotten so political and "green" in the past 2 years, that nothing from this company surprises me anymore.
There isn't even going to be a dealer show in the U.S. this year.

 

i do find this a little distubing since honda is in essence retreating a bit b/c while the article does not state it, they feel they cant compete with harley and others in this arena anymore to justify the plant. thats the real reason. i dont see yamaha giving up the STAR line or the other jap brands retreating. its not an encouraging move and id tend to dispute the facts to whoever was in that article from honda that said motorcycles are not selling right now; has he been on the road lately??

ive seen more on the road now than i could remember. as fuel goes up you will see even more and more. i know atvs outsell them by quite a bit so im not really concerned about that, but not having a dealer show is ridiculous and what does it really say to the customers? Customers hear: plant closing, not making motorcylces anymore , not having dealer show. Customers think: they are abandoning that market (what else wil they abandon) let's buy something else. way to shoot yourself in the foot, honda. again. i like honda, i think they make very quality stuff, but this is a bad move. instead of being aggressive, they are in essence creating a self fulfilling prophecy (the bikes will be more expensive, the sales will dive, and they will do like BMW did in 2004 and take away products) to divert money into new projects. if they do divert money to autos, i want to see proof and a better 'truck' that isnt so butt ugly....

 

Producing products in the market they are intended for has been a core Honda value for years. I wonder why the reversal.

Anyway, I thought the latest revision of the Goldwing was a step in the wrong direction for the niche it has traditionally filled, and in styling.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Your title is quite misleading! </end quote></div>

I think that comment is off base. It is not misleading at all. You cannot put everything in the title of a post. That is why it is called a "title" and you have the body of the post to explain your post.

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote> so again, what's the big deal??? </end quote></div>

The big deal is like one of the other posters said. Honda is retreating. If the market was in the US at one time then make an effort to gain it back. Honda is giving up on the market for this product. How long will it be before it gives up on other markets it is down in? I don't think it is a good thing. Honda has already changed their policy on how long parts are manufactured for non current models.

 

This is just one tiny segment of the market. Nobody is so stupid that they would keep producing something that doesn't sell. Consolidation is the name of the game, when you need to stay economically viable.

I have seen this topic posted many places, and the inference for those who don't bother to read the fine print is that Honda is pulling out of American production completely. It's a few hundred employees out of 15,000 in Ohio, and none of them are going to get laid off....so again what's the big deal?