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Honda To Quietly End Production of CR-Z At the End of 2016

By William Maley

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  • The end of the line for Honda's sporty-hybrid hatchback

Honda has quietly announced that the CR-Z would be done after the 2016 model year. Car and Driver received a statement from the automaker that said they will “discontinue CR-Z this year [2016]” as it “significantly expand its sales of electrified vehicles with the addition of two new volume models.” Those models in question are the 2017 Accord Hybrid and upcoming Clarity range.

 

The CR-Z was launched in 2010 as a 2011 model. The vehicle never really found traction in terms of sales. Its best year was in 2011 with 11,330 models sold. In 2015, Honda only moved 3,073 CR-Zs. Part of the reason dealt with the hybrid powertrain. The CR-Z used Honda's IMA hybrid system that produced 130 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque (the CVT saw torque drop to 127). This made CR-Z slow. It didn't help the CR-Z didn't fare so well with fuel economy numbers. The EPA rated the CR-Z manual at 31 City/38 Highway/34 Combined.

Source: Car and Driver

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    Grand Master

    G. David Felt

    Members

    I consider this to be another of Honda's recent failures. They have done Hybrid multiple times and always missed what the public wanted, they brought this back and again ignored what the public wanted. Honda seems to be living in the past and not paying attention to the future of what everyone is wanting or doing.

     

    Sad, cute little car, but just  not what the public wanted from day one.

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    • Newbie

    igozoom

    Members

    The original Honda Insight 2-seater, introduced in 2000, was actually ahead of its time and overpriced.  The Civic Hybrid was underpowered and the fuel economy gains didn't compensate for the higher price.  The Accord Hybrid (2005-2007) was pretty pointless....it was a 'mild' hybrid that used the regular Accord's V6 and added an electric motor for a slight boost in power.  They reused the Insight name on that godawful Prius-knockoff (and I didn't think it possible to make a car uglier than the Prius) in 2010.  And now the CR-Z is a goner....

     

    I've owned seven Honda/Acura vehicles (out of 12 total) in my 26 years of driving.  My first car was a 1985 CRX and I later had a 1991 CRX Si just for fun, so I was cautiously optimistic about the CR-Z. Honda has traditionally been one of the most innovative car companies in the world (CVCC and VTEC immediately come to mind).  Why they can't build a hybrid that resonates with the public defies logic...

     

    I wonder if the CR-Z would have sold if it had the 1.5L turbo from the 2016 Civic?  We'll never know....

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    • Newbie

    Suaviloquent

    New Member

    I consider this to be another of Honda's recent failures. They have done Hybrid multiple times and always missed what the public wanted, they brought this back and again ignored what the public wanted. Honda seems to be living in the past and not paying attention to the future of what everyone is wanting or doing.

     

    Sad, cute little car, but just  not what the public wanted from day one.

     

    The new 2017 Accord hybrid beats the Malibu hybrid in efficiency, and power, and conceptually the CR-Z is like the ELR, but actually affordable. There's failures everywhere meng.

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    • Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

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    On 6/24/2016 at 0:38 AM, Suaviloquent said:

     

    The new 2017 Accord hybrid beats the Malibu hybrid in efficiency, and power, and conceptually the CR-Z is like the ELR, but actually affordable. There's failures everywhere meng.

    The gorgeous Malibu is almost infinitely better looking thou!

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    • Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

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    On 6/24/2016 at 5:29 AM, ocnblu said:

    DEVASTATING.

    All seven people nationwide that craved one would agree with you!

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    Mentor

    A Horse With No Name

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    On 6/17/2016 at 11:38 PM, daves87rs said:

    Only seen a few around here...

    Friends of mine got an obscene discount on a closeout.  I think it was cheaper for the dealer to do that than have AAA haul it off the lot in a couple of years when no one else wanted it.

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    • Collaborator

    daves87rs

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    On 8/30/2016 at 9:30 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

    Friends of mine got an obscene discount on a closeout.  I think it was cheaper for the dealer to do that than have AAA haul it off the lot in a couple of years when no one else wanted it.

    Nice!!

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