2011 Acura TSX Wagon

[Kickapoo]

Great little wagon. Having grown up with a station wagon in the family I gotta say those things are really versatile. It's a happy medium between an SUV and a Van, and doesn't look at horrible as a raised up beefy crossover.

[varg]

Originally Posted by JoannaCRZ

i DON'T LIKE IT. iT'S PISSING ME OFF BECAUSE all the Acura's all got the same front end. it's getting old. They need a new style. The hatchback idea tho is GREAT!!

Most, if not all wagons, typically have the same front end as the sedan counterpart

I do agree with you on the Acuras looking very similar though. Still no reason why the TSX sedan and wagon shouldn't have the same front

[MattB]

I like the wagon a lot, but no manual transmission = no interest from me.

On the other hand, Honda's not expecting this to be a high volume seller in the first place, and with less than 5% of new cars being sold with a manual transmission, I can understand why they don't offer it.

[Colin]

Originally Posted by MattB

I like the wagon a lot, but no manual transmission = no interest from me.

On the other hand, Honda's not expecting this to be a high volume seller in the first place, and with less than 5% of new cars being sold with a manual transmission, I can understand why they don't offer it.

Exactly, Acura was planning for 4000 Wagons per year (pre-tsunami) and with a 5% take rate for manuals on the sedan, 5% on the wagon is 200 cars. Divide this by 12 months and then again by 270 dealers, and I think logic should prevail.

[lilfeat]

Before I bought the CRZ I was shopping up market and the TSX wagon was on my short list. Due to the Tsunami they are scarce, and the dealers are taking advantage of that fact to not discount it in any real way. I would never buy a Honda product without at least getting below the fake invoice number. While they aren't a very high volume company, most dealers sell lots of cars, because there aren't many. Always remember, you are buying it from the dealers business, not Honda.
I bought the CRZ because of a soft spot I had for the CRXsi, and it's low price. I figured to make it my commuter car for a year or two until Acura goes throughout the next cycle of design changes, and see what that brings.

As far as the row you own crowd, the reason you don't see many sticks on cars in the US is because other than on pure sports cars, it is because nobody buys them. Also, in sports cars, the new autos are fantastic, especially when they have launch contol systems. Technology seeking the fun out of the feeling of shifting youself, but in most cases, they out perform manuals.
I think there should be a law against an auto in a roadster however, it just seems wrong!

[gomarlins3]

Where is the wood paneling?

[holeydonut]

Originally Posted by Colin

Exactly, Acura was planning for 4000 Wagons per year (pre-tsunami) and with a 5% take rate for manuals on the sedan, 5% on the wagon is 200 cars. Divide this by 12 months and then again by 270 dealers, and I think logic should prevail.

In addition to the low volume, consider that the decision to provide a manual transmission is faced with the factors listed below.

Manual transmissions in the USA make absolutely no sense for niche cars once you add all this up.

Explains why Saab is going bankrupt. They have a Manual trans 9-5 wagon. Probably sell 100 a year but they spent a lot of money to support it.

You could make an argument that every single 6-speed Wagon sold is "incremental" volume to the carmaker (that is, they would have lost the sale if not for the manual). But what is usually discovered is that the purchaser oftentimes would have been happy with the automatic-variation of the vehicle. So really it's just substitution volume instead of incremental volume.


1) Manual trans tend to cost more than automatics (the volume of demand results in lower economies of scale).

2) Costs to engineer/develop the manual for LHD markets

3) Additional training for the sales teams in the USA

4) Additional parts that need to be sequenced at the plant and stored in inventory at the plant

5) Additional manufacturing/line complexity to support the assembly of an additional vehicle configuration

6) Unique Quality Control / Quality Assurance requirements

7) Acura Service shops would need to stock additional inventory to service the manual transmissions when owners bring in the vehicle for work/repair.

8) Someone would be responsible for developing/supporting the service manual literature on the transmission

9) Separate crash-tests for this configuration during vehicle development.

10) The owners manuals would need to be modified to explain the manual and automatic transmissions (including recommended fluid types, service intervals, etc)



Now consider the additional work that would be undertaken. These are risk factors and burden... not really a direct cost.

A) someone has to track purchase orders for material

B) the warranty group would have to track potential red flags for recalls or requests for supplier reimbursement

C) customer advocacy group would need to make sure the manual-trans is "making customers happy"

D) in-house financing development would need to create differential incentives for manual vs automatic

E) some director is going to have to stick his neck out to make this all work... and he gets paid to prevent the company from taking on unnecessary risks that have limited returns.


Bottom line, the car that bloggers-and-web-users want is not the car most automakers would provide to buyers.