It is uncommon in the auto organization to get a juicy interview like the one the Detroit News bagged from a leading Honda executive at the New York auto show. It’s even better when that executive is trash-speaking a rival organization. Add some allegations and an expletive—and wham! Instant news.
“I don’t truly give a damn about Nissan. I actually don’t,” John Mendel, executive vice president for automotive operations at Honda, told reporters. Mendel was fuming more than Nissan sales, which he claims are inflated with fleet deliveries versus the retail-only numbers Honda releases each month. He even charged Nissan with artificially goosing its functionality: “They have a whole systematic group of folks who go into the dealers on the 20th of the month primarily based on what Nissan demands to beat Honda and forces the dealer to place an extra 10 or 15 rental vehicles in service.”
Although Honda does sell to fleets, it doesn’t operate a formal fleet sales division and allocates only about 2 percent of all U.S. sales to fleets, compared to around 10 % at Toyota and 28 % at Common Motors (the numbers can fluctuate by several points month to month). Nissan denied the allegations, with a spokesman claiming its fleet sales have been “less than 17 percent.” In August, Mendel created a equivalent rebuke against Toyota when he cited the Accord’s retail sales beating the Camry, despite Toyota claiming the quantity-a single spot in all round sales.
Just how negative did Mendel’s New York interview go? Let’s put it this way: He ended the conversation with: “This is probably the last interview that PR is going to let me do.” It’s worth a study.
Honda U.S. Executive: “I Don’t Give a Damn About Nissan”
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