Honda S2000 Definitely Never Coming Back, Honda Exec Says
The Honda S2000 was an excellent sports car that followed a pretty long lineage of fun cars from the Japanese brand, but don’t expect it to make a return.
Hayato Mori, Senior Manager of product planning for Honda Canada, told AutoGuide.com recently that the S2000 was a car of the past and we’re probably never going to see another iteration because of the current climate of cars in North America. People who buy crossovers are dominating the market, and small, convertible sports cars and roadsters are impossible for companies to make any money on because of their relative impracticality in the eyes of today’s buyer.
Mori reminded us that safety regulations make it very difficult for small sports cars to exist, and that’s probably another reason why we haven’t seen another generation of the Nissan 370Z yet — R&D simply costs too much money and the regulations for crash safety are too stringent. And that high cost is difficult to justify with such small sales numbers.
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And even if it was built, who is going to buy it? Although we’re seeing fewer and fewer sports cars, convertible sports cars are even more rare and the S2000 is at the unfortunate crossroads of two unpopular segments. Enthusiasts also aren’t willing to pay S2000 money for what is a pretty impractical car, so they end up deferring to hot hatches like the Type R.
While Honda would love to make another small two-seater sports car, unfortunately, on this side of the planet, it just isn’t feasible from a business or safety standpoint.
Mori also added that he’s part of the #savethemanuals movement.
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Honda Del Sol is the best car I ever owned.
I don't know what the hell market he's talking about!!!! I owned a 2002 S2000 and I don't know why I let it go. I'd love to have another one. This is the one of the 50-100 cars my wife and I have owned that we both loved. Best engineered car I've ever owned! BRING THE D--N CAR BACK!