US makers not so popular in Hawaii.

[Calaber]

I'm lucky enough to be holidaying in Hawaii at present and the car scene is very enlightening.

If it wasn't for trucks, SUV's and Mustangs, you would think that US makers were not interested in these islands.

Toyota's, Honda's and Nissan's seem to have the market almost to themselves. The occasional Camaro or Challenger appears but they are outnumbered by the new Mustang which is principally the convertible. There are also plenty of Hyundai and Kia vehicles but I reckon Toyota must have a third of the passenger car market to itself. The bloody things are everywhere. Worse than Oz.

If Hawaii is typical of the US market, then it appears the Americans don't think of local companies if they only want small vehicles.

I have seen the occasional Caddie and Ford Fusion and the 300c seems be exclusively used as a stretched limo. The local Chev dealer resembles our Holden dealers with similar Korean and Thai built cars and trucks. Unlike the last time I was here in 2015, the Malibu isn't common. Can't say I've even seen one after three days.

 

[Nitro_X]

It will be interesting to see how things look on Aussie roads over the next few years, post 2017 when we will be importing all of our vehicles.
If we move into economic recession, which is quite possible by the end of 2017 and into 2018, I reckon new cars sales generally will take a dive.

Funny with Trump banging on about make and buy American...his own daughter, Ivanka, has been importing container loads of product from China to supply her company with cheap product.

.

 

[gossie]

Your spot on Calaber with your car spotting.

We go to Honolulu once or twice a year as it's very easy getting there on Hawaiian Air from Brisbane airport for us on the Gold Coast, and of course it's a GREAT place to spend a couple of weeks to do plenty of everything or even nothing.
We had a couple of weeks March just gone.

I've noticed mainly Toyota and Nissan vehicles are EVERYWHERE, with a very few others tossed into the mix.
Those brands also have different models to our models here on OZ, plus what we get......Camry etc.
Of course the USA has about 300,000,000 people where as we have about 25,000,000 people so one would have to expect more models to choose from.

Enjoy you time. We will more than likely go back again in September.

 

[Drawnnite]

would be interesting if you could then go to mainland USA and do a comparison as to what you see. Even better if there was a by state or major town etc.

There is a well known American bike company that did a play on the hat slogan with "Make American Bikes Again".
(which yes, I may actually own said item haha)
So there is a bit of patriotism out there in terms of supporting their own.

 

[Wats_in_a_name]

I have heard that in cities like Los Angeles the situation is much the same. Apart from trucks and the odd Camaro, Mustang or Cadillac the roads are dominated by imports like Honda and Toyota. The local brands don't seem to be on people's radar.

 

[Calaber]

A brief update on my earlier observations. I said that I hadn't spotted any Malibu's despite them being common here 18 months ago.

Obviously car turnover here is much quicker than at home in Australia. I have now noticed that the new Malibu is quite common after walking past a stationary one yesterday and realising it wasn't just another Jap. It's actually quite a reasonable looking car.

The model we still get is, however, missing in action.

 

[figjam]

Isn't the 2017 Malibu the same (sorta) as the new 2018 Commodore (coff coff choke) ?

 

[lowandslow]

Does Hawaii come under the same rules and regs as Cali? If so that would explain the large amounts of cheap to run jap stuff / hybrids.

If you want 'Murica, go to the east coast. Every second car on the freeways is a new Camaro or Mustang. New Chev and F Trucks are everywhere.

 

[Calaber]

Isn't the 2017 Malibu the same (sorta) as the new 2018 Commodore (coff coff choke) ?

I'll try to get a pic but yes, it does look similar.

 

[figjam]

I'll try to get a pic but yes, it does look similar.

I had a look at the Chev website, and it is 'similar' in looks, but I meant in drivetrain and platform, but with slightly different sheetmetal.
So, if past Malibu (Camry competitor) sales in Australia were a failure, future sales look promising, not.