Honda Odyssey - Love that leather

The V6 Odysey launch was new ground for Honda New Zealand, writes ALASTAIR SLOANE. Would customers opt for entry-level models or prefer the luxury of leather seats?

Only hours after the new four- and six-cylinder Odysseys went on sale, Honda New Zealand executives got on the phone to each other and changed the model line-up.

There was no problem with the 2.3-litre four-cylinder Odyssey, the $42,000 model with seven seats. Its role in the market was on target - five years of four-cylinder Odysseys told Honda that.

The vehicle causing its marketing people to rethink things was the entry-level 3.0-litre V6, with cloth seats and at $47,500 the one they thought would be the most popular among six-cylinder buyers.

But Honda hadn't had a V6 Odyssey before. This was new ground. What exactly would punters want?

The first three buyers last Wednesday morning provided the answer. The V6 with leather seats, at $50,000 only $2500 more expensive, was the bee's knees.

"We had such an overwhelming response in the first few hours that we had to change the emphasis on the order mix from the entry-level V6 to the leather model," says Honda New Zealand director Rob Elliot.

The new Odyssey shares the basic profile of its predecessor but uses all-new body panels for improved rigidity. The interior layout - an Odyssey highlight all along - is new, as is the instrument panel. The spare wheel is now under the boot floor. The suspension has been updated to improve handling.

The seven-seat four-cylinder model uses a modified version of the 2.3-litre engine found in the previous Odyssey. This unit drives the front wheels through a sequential automatic/manual transmission.

The six-seat V6 provides, says Honda, a "unique combination of luxury and spaciousness," with "captain's chairs" in the middle row. The V6 sequential transmission also has a five-speed automatic mode, a first for Honda. Both models are rated low-emission vehicles, which means their engines burn cleaner than most.

"We see the new Odyssey as two different vehicles," says Elliot. "The seven-seater 2.3-litre will appeal to the people it previously appealed to.

"But the V6 six-seater has got all the attributes of a big car, somewhere between a hybrid big car and a station wagon.

"We think this is a new area. The public will choose, of course, but that's how we see it, two quite different markets."

More than 650 Odysseys have been sold in New Zealand - about 500 new by Honda and the rest second-hand from Japan.- since the model appeared here in 1995.

Honda is basing advertising for the new model largely around a direct campaign, using the 30,000 circulation of its in-house magazine Eclipse brochures to existing Odyssey owners and leasing companies, and its Website. There will some advertising in newspapers and magazines, and television might come into the picture later on.

Honda will tell people that the Odyssey handles like a dream, that its third row of seats folds into the floor without removing the headrests, that the climate air-conditioning also keeps rear occupants comfortable, that the list of standard equipment includes a CD player and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all.

It will highlight safety aspects, that the Odyssey has dual airbags, ABS anti-lock brakes and Electronic Brake Distribution, which applies braking force evenly to all four wheels.

It will say that the vehicle is the safest in its class, with "G-con" - or "G-forcecontrol technology." This is a fancypants term for integrated crumple zones, seatbelt pretensioners with load limiters, interior head protection, and the latest soft bumpers to help to protect pedestrians.

"There is every reason why this type of vehicle should be leading the world in affordable safety technology," says Robert Grimmer, the general manager of marketing.

"Previous multi-purpose vehicles have been too compromised in their performance, handling, refinement or pricing to have had mass appeal.

"There is also evidence that the misguided 'heavy is safe' attitude, which led to the use of large, cumbersome four-wheel-drives as family cars, has almost run its course."

If direct advertising falls a bit flat, Honda could always borrow from the Odyssey campaign used in Japan.

It featured the Adams Family, the ghoulish Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Pugsley and Co.

Morticia mostly drove the Odyssey. Gomez sat alongside, every now and again going wild-eyed and kissing her arm and shoulder. Uncle Fester sat in the back, carrying a headstone and spying on pretty passers-by with binoculars.

The hand of Cousin It clung to a headrest, Pugsley munched fast food and butler Lurch mumbled and cleaned the Odyssey with a feather duster. The Japanese were tickled pink.