Competition Drives Honda and Toyota Forward

Anthony Fontanelle
March 13, 2007

The U.S. market has been steadily being taken over by Asian brands. In fact, it has been predicted that the domestic market share will fall below 50 percent this year. The foremost threat to U.S. car makers is the emergence of Toyota as a threat to GM’s spot as the world’s largest car manufacturer.

Toyota has already cornered 15.4 percent of the market and by the way things are going, it seems that Toyota has no plan to rest on its laurels any time soon. Toyota has been the focus of attention of Detroit automakers but another Asian brand is threatening to claim their market share.

Honda is also another Asian car manufacturer which has been enjoying success in the U.S. market. While it is not as serious a threat to U.S. car makers as Toyota, the second largest Japanese car maker is steadily tightening its grip on the U.S. market. For the past ten years, Honda has steadily grown in the U.S., doubling its share in the U.S. market to 9.1 percent.

The share in the U.S. market of Honda is expected to rise since it is the only car maker that has a fuel-cell car certified for U.S. retail buyers. Since the American motoring public has turned away from gas guzzlers, environment-friendly and fuel efficient cars are in demand.

The use of fuel-cell in a car is great leap forward since the fuel used in these cars is much cheaper than gasoline. Not only that. See, the fuel-cell powered car will also generate much interest among eco-friendly drivers since a fuel-cell car is categorized as a zero emission vehicle and has been considered to be one of the really environment-friendly vehicles.

Both Toyota and Honda capitalizes on the fact that Americans are looking for fuel-efficient vehicles. Both companies boast of a lineup of eco-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles. But what drives both these car companies to these heights is competition.

The rivalry against the top two car manufacturer in Japan has spawned a work ethic that is unmatched in the American auto scene. With their constant improvement on their cars, the competition is forced to answer back. This healthy competition paves the way for the production of vehicles that gets more and more miles per gallon.

The competition both drove the two companies to global popularity. Their competition also gave the global community cars which are not only fuel efficient but also reliable. In a recently released result of a survey, Toyota sits at the top of the list of the most reliable brand in the U.S. market. Honda, on the other hand, is the second most reliable brand in the market.

The competition between the two car makers can be seen on the way the Accord and the Camry has improved over the year. With Accord for Honda and the Camry for Toyota, the battle is raging. Both models have received improvements year after year, both companies trying to outdo each other. The competition will likely heat up once again in the coming fall, since Honda will be unveiling its new version of the Accord.

While the Camry and the Accord are going at it in the mid-size sedan market, the Ford Fusion is set to steal some of the market share away from these two, but that is a different story altogether.

The competition between the two Asian brands will only continue the development in the auto industry at a fast pace. If the current trend continues, the rise of the two Japanese car makers to the top of the leader board will be hard to stop, even with an EBC rotor and brake pads providing the stopping power.

Source:  Amazines.com