Honda vs Toyota: A Big Battle for number one

Toyota’s Camry and Honda’s Accord are the two top selling passenger cars sold in the US. Who will be number one this year? The battle lines are drawn and consumers have a chance to shape the outcome. Let’s take a look at what makes these cars so popular with American drivers.

Up until ten years ago, American cars dominated the marketplace with offerings from Ford or Chevrolet regularly securing the top spot. A series of bland and poorly made models from the domestic giants gave foreign car makers a unique opportunity to wrest control of the passenger car market. Since then the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have been battling for the top spot with American models coming in a distant third.

Both the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are noted for high quality, affordability, refinement, and durability. The Accord is the sleeker of the two, although the Camry Solara, the coupe version of the Toyota, is sportier than its sedan stable mate.

Honda Accord: For 2006 the Accord gets a significant make over. Redone from the ground up, the Accord’s exterior is even sleeker than before and its interior has been refreshed as well with a new instrument panel being the key factor in the updated cabin. The base Accord features a 2.4L i-VTEC 4 cylinder engine mated to a 5 speed transmission. Double wishbone suspension, front and side impact airbags, and ABS are some of the standard options for the Accord. Base models start at $18,225 with fully loaded Accords retailing well into the high 20s.

Toyota Camry: The 2006 Camry comes equipped with a 2.4L 16 valve DOHC 4 cylinder engine paired with a 5 speed manual transmission. Power windows, air conditioning, AM/FM/CD Player with 6 speakers, are some of the important standard features on the Camry. Base MSRP is $18,445 with fully loaded Camrys retailing as high as the mid 20s. The Camry was last restyled in 2002.

Sales totals thus far this year suggest that the battle is very tight once again with perhaps only a few thousand sales ultimately separating the two models. With an updated Accord already in the mix, Honda has the best chance of winning this year’s battle.

The History of Honda

Honda is the world's largest engine maker, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines every year. Honda's began building motorbikes but the S500 2-door roadster featuring a 492cc engine saw the company move into car production in an innovative way in the 1960s. The highly acclaimed Civic and Accord saw Honda make rapid international progress. Today, the company makes everything from cars and motorbikes, robots, jets and jet engines, to lawn and garden equipment. Honda's current crop of cars includes the Accord, CR-V, Civic, FR-V, Jazz, Legend and S2000. HONDA HISTORY In 1948 Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda, started a new company: Honda Motor Co. They soon came up with the "batabata", a motorised bicycle named after the sound the engine made which became a huge hit across Japan. Later, Honda's most popular model, the Dream, could be spotted all over the Japanese islands. Honda introduced its first car in 1957, the N360. In 1958, the American Honda Company was created. In 1972 Honda entered the American market with the small fuel efficient Civic - just as the energy crisis was hitting economies. In 1986 Honda introduced a luxury line of cars and in 2007 Honda announced plans to launch low-priced hybrids.

HONDA FACTS

Type: Public company
Founded: September 24, 1948
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Key People: Soichiro Honda, Founder. Takeo Fukui, CEO
Industry: Automobile & Truck manufacturer & Motorcycle
Products: cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, electrical generators, robotics, marine equipment, jets and jet engines, and lawn and garden equipment, Acura vehicles.

FEATURED MODELS

HONDA ACCORD - manufactured since 1976, first as a compact hatchback and then evolving into a premium large family estate and saloon car

HONDA CIVIC - a compact car first manufactured in 1972 and now in its eighth generation. The Civic Type-R is a widely respected hot hatch, while the Civic IMA is a hybrid with an electric motor and petrol engine

HONDA CR-V - public demand for a sport-utility vehicle from Honda led to the creation of this compact crossover SUV in 1996

HONDA FR-V - a clever six seat MPV, which features three seats in the front and three in the back

HONDA JAZZ - a five-door hatchback car first produced in 2001. It rivals the Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris and is known as the Fit in Japan, China, and America

HONDA S2000 - a two-seat roadster created to celebrate Honda's 50th anniversary and launched in April 1999

HONDA LEGEND - a large luxury car which is currently in its fourth generation

DID YOU KNOW?

The Honda Cub motorcycle is the best-selling vehicle in history, with around 50 million sold worldwide.

Soichiro Honda was president of the Honda Motor Company until retiring in 1973. He was labeled "the Japanese Henry Ford" by People magazine in 1980

The first passenger vehicle in the world to have four-wheel steering technology was the Honda Prelude in 1987.

In 1964, Honda entered Formula One racing for the first time, recording its first victory the following year. It's current F1 campaign is headed by British racer, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello from Brazil.

In 1991, Honda posted its 10th consecutive win in the Isle of Man TT.