Honda has never been a company that gets aggressive about taking market share and that won't be starting any time soon. Polaris built the first Ranger in 1999 and Honda came along at lightning speed and built the BIG RED 12 years later in 2011. It was a big flop and it took 5 more years until 2016 to produce a full size SXS to compete and released the Pioneer 1000. Artic cat released their first Prowler in 2006 and Polaris released the first RZR in 2007. Again Honda is working at the pace of geriatric sea turtles and has decided to join in the fun. They are once again 12 years late to the party with the Talon.
I don't know how many of you are interested in business economics but Honda makes their decisions based on money and not based on weather or not some redneck in the middle of America wants better shocks, better 4 wheel drive, better seats, more suspension travel, blah blah blah they don't give a damn what you all want and here is why.
In the power sports industry Honda sells about 700,000 units TOTAL in the United States. In Asia they sell nearly 18 MILLION! Further, take a look at the graph.
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Out of Honda's total portfolio their Power sports business AKA Motorcycle business makes up just 12.3% Out of that 12.3% North American motorcycle sales are just a sliver making up 1.164% of the total sales revenue for Honda. Now the "power product and other" category is their lawn mowers, generators, and that kind of stuff.
So there you have it. We are 1.164% of the shyt Honda cares about. If you are a person makes 50,000 dollars in a year, 1.164% equates to $820. How much time are you going to devote to worrying about the crowd paying you $820 of your annual salary? You're going to take your sweet ass time addressing what they want and string them along. Money is money so you keep them around so long as it doesn't become too big of a hassle to the rest of your life.
You guys can all yell about all the things you think Honda should be doing in regards to prices in our little power sports world but its not going to change. They sell more scooters in one week in Asia than total number of SXS's sold in the USA in an entire year.