Honda S660 Roadster Sold Out In Japan This Year

Honda has a pleasant problem with the S660 mini roadster in Japan;

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by Dan Mihalascu

August 7, 2015 at 17:42

Honda has a pleasant problem with the S660 mini roadster in Japan; it can’t keep up with demand.

The automaker has sold out all 8,600 units slated for production this year and is fully booked through June. That’s obviously good news, but an interesting fact is that four in five buyers of the Honda S660 are over 40.

That’s a much older demographic than Honda expected, with many customers buying the S660 as a second car. For comparison, only one in five buyers of the Honda S2000 were over 40 years of age. It may not be a good sign for Honda that older people prefer the S660 roadster, a vehicle it hoped would lure young customers.

However, all automakers have this problem in Japan, as young people usually lack the necessary income to buy new cars and prefer to use the country’s efficient public transportation system. A strong indicator that young Japanese are losing interest in cars is the fact that the number of driver license holders under the age of 40 has fallen 46 percent over the last 13 years.

Honda says it expected the S660 roadster to appeal to older customers, but believes the proportion of young buyers will rise gradually. The automaker plans to restart taking orders from October.

Story references: Bloomberg