Do you honestly think a Hynndai can make such a leap as you have described, in five years?
If they peaked in the 1990's, how do explain S2000, Civic Si, TL, and even the Pilot is a great seller.
RL was not created with the US market in mind, but Asia. It was also the first JDM car to officially break the 280PS rule. It also won the Japanese domestic car of the year in 2005.
There will be one day the exchange rate will hurt Korea as it have to Honda, when that day come, I'm sure Automaker of China and India will be doing something similar, but I will still buy Honda.
Sorry BD, but I'd have to disagree with the statement that the RL was created with the Asia market in mind. Or if it was, it was an abject failure. Having lived in Hong Kong for the past 2.5 years and traveling multiple times per quarter to China, Japan and Korea, I have not come across an RL. Zip. Zero. None. If they were counting on Asia to be the market for the RL, especially China, now the biggest car market in the world, then it would be an astonishing failure.
I dont believe that exchange rates will hurt as much in the auto industry, as say in tech, where Samsung and Sony will get killed, since much of the manufacturing occurs here in the US.
I have been a lifelong Honda fan, having owned multiple Accords, a TL and of course an NSX, but I'm afraid I've moved on to a 996tt for the fun car, as the NSX was just plain neglected for updates.
I'm not as pessimistic about the rest of Honda's line as I think the MDX, Pilot and the Fit are best in class. I actually cross-shopped the RDX, which came close 2nd to the X3, and the new one appears great. However, the truth is that technology and styling-wise Honda's current models are terrible.
That being said, my answer to the poll is slightly more nuanced. The winner for me would be a used RL, as they are just depreciation disasters. Hyundai doesn't have the depth in attractive 4-6 year old used cars, as their cars back then just sucked, full stop.
Even the new Sonatas and Elantras, while great, will probably require one more generation to truly be dominant. I rented a Sonata recently and I really wanted to like the car, and overall, it was okay, but it had stupid stuff go wrong, like the A/C fan speed increasing and decreasing with engine speed. Probably a bug with my car, but at 14K miles, it just shouldn't happen. But make no mistake about it, they will get there, and they will be dominant.
