All along General Motors (maker of ) has been preparing its redesigned Chevrolet Malibu to compete with Toyota's Camry, believing that it's the toughest competitor to beat in the family sedan market. But another competitor has emerged and has made its debut just last Tuesday---the Honda Accord.
A redesigned Honda Accord was unveiled in Novi Michigan, marking the start of a really intense battle royale in the family sedan market. The eighth generation Accord is scheduled to hit dealerships next month. The prices are not yet announced but expected to fall between $20,000 and $30,000.
On the other hand, GM will release its redesigned Malibu in early November. The company however, has not yet made any statement regarding the price.
The 2008 Accord is available in coupe and sedan form with four or six cylinder engines and with manual or automatic transmissions. According to Honda, the 2008 Accord sedan has gained 3 inches and given an additional 3.3 cubic feet of space which qualifies it more as a large rather than a midsize sedan under the federal guidelines.
Meanwhile the new Malibu is still part of GM's effort to gain back the market share lost to Japanese competitors. The new 2008 Malibu was also increased in length by 3 inches and will be offered with four or six cylinder engines, delivering 164hp and 252hp. Fuel consumption is 31miles per gallon and 26 mpg respectively.
Local dealers are also expecting the new Malibu to outperform its predecessor. Mark Calisi, owner of Eagle Chevrolet in Riverhead said, "General Motors has woken up to who its competition is."
Aside from Honda and General Motors other automakers are also improving their entries in the family sedan market such as Ford Motor Co. that boost the horsepower and changed the names of its entries Five Hundred and Montego to Taurus and Sable. Ford believes that the change in names would boost sales.
Chrysler and Nissan have also redesigned their Sebring and Altima sedans in dealerships since November as 2007 models. General Motors' Saturn division since last August of last year has started selling a new midsize sedan, the Aura which replaces the L-Series.
The family sedan market is very important to automakers and accounted for about one in five of 16.5 million new vehicles sold annually. Industry analyst David Healy of Burnham Securities is however, seeing a stagnant sedan market for the coming 2008, and sees growth only somewhere else. He said, "I think the growth area is going to be crossover SUVs and maybe even full size pickups, and SUVs might make a small recovery."
General Manager Richard Lang at Nardy Honda in St. James says that the Accord is his bestselling model and ever since that price of gasoline have increased more and more buyers have chosen to purchase four-cylinder variants.
Honda has been able to sell more than 354,000 Accord sedans and coupes last year making it the second best selling car after Toyota Camry with 448,000 units sold. GM on the other hand was able to sell 163,800 Malibus and 289,000 Impalas last year.
