Although Honda and Acura dealers account for about a third of all used Hondas and Acuras sold every year in the U.S., Rodriguez thinks they can do better.
“We sell through our dealer network, Honda and Acura, a little more than a million used cars a year. And there were over 3 million used Hondas and Acuras sold in the market. We think there’s an opportunity to capture more than a third of that,” Rodriguez said.
Getting more buyers into the brand through dealers can also drive brand loyalty if the experience is positive.
“We’re confident we’re going to keep more than our fair share of them coming back to stay in the brand,” Rodriguez said. “We’re looking at it as a channel to bring them in through used, graduate them to CPO and then eventually graduate them to new.”
About half of all Honda CPO buyers are new to the brand, and about half of them return to buy a new vehicle, he said.
With last week’s relaunch, the Honda CPO website now has three program choices:
1 HondaTrue Certified+, a program introduced last year that offers the longest warranty for near-new vehicles
2 HondaTrue Certified, which added free oil changes and roadside assistance as part of a rebranding last year
3 Used, the new program for non- certified vehicles.
Some examples of the non-CPO listings on the updated website included a 2010 Fit hatchback with 186,125 miles for $7,299 and a top-trim 2019 Odyssey minivan with 21,820 miles for $39,533.
For now, the website simply lists the used vehicles and points buyers toward the dealer lot. Honda has committed to addressing outstanding safety recalls before a sale is made.
