Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to bring an end to an automotive segment that simply needs to die: the non-sporty coupe.
For those of you who aren't sure what I mean when I say "non sporty coupe," allow me to describe the two types of coupes that currently exist today. One is the sporty coupe. This is a car with sleek styling, and a cool interior, and a lot of power, and some modicum of performance suspension, or performance brakes, or something performancey, like a faux carbon fiber door panel.
Examples of the sporty coupe include the Porsche 911, the Ford Mustang, the Subaru BRZ, and –– if you ask the Germans – the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, though the rest of us just consider that to be an overpriced sedan.
And then you have the other type of coupe. The non-sporty coupe. This is a car that was a sedan, until some auto industry geniuses got ahold of it and decided they could create an entirely new segment by just throwing on a new, two-door body and marketing it as "sporty." Examples include the Honda Civic, the Honda Accord, and, well, that's about it.
There's a reason those are the only options: because everyone else has gotten out of this segment. For years, we had the Toyota Camry coupe, later called the Camry Solara. It's gone. The Chevy Monte Carlo. It's gone. The Chevy Cobalt coupe, the Chevy Cavalier Coupe, the Ford Tempo coupe, the Ford Focus coupe (look it up!), the Dodge Avenger, the Chrysler Sebring coupe. Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone. All gone. The Nissan Altima Coupe. Gone. All because this segment is a massive dud; the automotive equivalent of Kevin Costner's Waterworld.
So why is Honda still in it?
My theory is Honda has abandoned every other sporty car they've ever had – from the NSX and the S2000 on down to the CR-Z – so they feel like they have to offer some piece of "performance" somewhere in their lineup. So they offer the Civic in sedan and coupe varieties, even though virtually everyone else has realized the actual place to be, when it comes to compact cars, is sedans and hatchbacks.
Interestingly, it seems like Honda still doesn't have the hatchback memo. At this year's New York Auto Show, Honda displayed a bright green Civic intended to preview what's to come for the compact car's next generation. So what body style did it use? The highly popular sedan model, which accounts for more than 80 percent of all sales? A hatchback to let us know they're finally going to take on the Ford Focus, the Mazda3, the Kia Soul, and the Volkswagen Golf?
No: they showed off a Civic Coupe, suggesting they plan to continue the non-sporty coupe even after everyone else has jumped ship.
It's the same situation with the Accord. Every time there's an Accord redesign, I expect Honda to finally announce that they're doing away with the Accord Coupe. And every time there's an Accord redesign, Honda instead surprises me and brings it back for another round.
The question I have for people who buy these cars is: WHY?????
If you really examine the Civic Coupe and the Accord Coupe, what you'll find is that both models are really just less practical versions of the sedans. Neither one is a sports car. Neither one offers especially sleek styling. In fact, if you ask me, the Civic Coupe is actually a bit ungainly in its current form, in the sense that it appears, at any moment, that it may be blown over by a strong gust of wind.
So basically, the "non sporty coupe" is just a sedan with less practicality. Same Accord styling. Same Accord engines. Same Accord equipment, and platform, and suspension, and brakes. The only difference: in the regular Accord, you can get out of the back seat without making the front passenger get up and exit the vehicle first.
I've talked to a few people who own these vehicles, and I've come to learn they actually believe these are sports cars. "Well," they say. "I couldn't afford a 370Z. So I decided to get an Accord Coupe." As if the two are equals. This would be like saying that you couldn't afford a place overlooking Central Park, so you instead decided to get a studio apartment in downtown Newark.
So I guess the simple truth here is that Honda is going to continue to make these things as long as people keep buying them. But as the market shrinks, and as people realize they'd really rather have a sedan, and as the tens of buyers disaffected by the cancellation of the Chevy Cobalt coupe move on to something else, I hope Honda wises up and gives us hatchbacks instead. Because the days of the non-sporty coupe are coming to an end.
The post It's Time To End The Non-Sporty Coupe appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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