Despite Car and Driver magazine including the Honda Pilot in its annual selection of “5 Best Trucks” for six consecutive years, the SUV has fallen on hard times. Last year, Pilot sales rose 6.1 percent to 152,154 vehicles sold, but took a nosedive, down 22.2 percent so far this year as the vehicle nears the end of its model life.

Honda announced, certainly in the nick of time, that it will reveal a prototype of the next-generation Honda Pilot full-size sport-utility vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month

Honda stated that the new Pilot, which goes on sale next year, will feature bolder styling emphasizing its SUV attributes as well as new fuel-efficiency technologies.

Yesterday, over at The Truth About Cars, Mr. Farago has drawn a line in the sand. Fed up with his writers being berated for favouring Traditional Imports over Traditional domestic, Farago has let his readers know that he will no longer accept comments from those who seek to flame the writers for their opinions. These guys know their stuff and the boss is going to stand behind them. Good for you Farago, your team deserves the support.
Now, it’s time for my 2 cents. Or maybe 10.

Like most car guys, I’ve grown up around the Import vs. domestic battle. When I finally joined the car industry, it made sense that I should work in Chrysler store, because I had grown up in a loyal Chrysler household. When I made the switch to a European import store I began to see the difference between manufacturing philosophies. In my time, I’ve worked for Japanese, American and Swedish dealerships and as a result, I’m often asked for my opinion by friends and family who are researching a new car purchase because I’ve seen the products in action.

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