Anyone have information? Dealer claims Clarity discontinued.

css28 said:
Reading between the lines, Germain Ann Arbor must be a little disappointed.
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The sales manager's disappointment was obvious when I spoke with him today. He said they had to trade with other dealers to satisfy the demand for Claritys at his dealership.

This Truth In Cars author wrote last month that Honda has soured on electified cars, but he said that Honda was accepting special-orders for the Clarity. I don't believe anyone on this forum has heard of a successful special-order for a Clarity since Honda turned it into a California compliance car. It's too bad Canadian car warranties don't transfer with cars brought to the US.
 
Dan McInerney said:
This was posted on Facebook's "Honda Clarity PHEV Owners Group"

https://www.germainhonda-annarbor.com/honda-clarity-discontinued/
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css28 said:
Reading between the lines, Germain Ann Arbor must be a little disappointed.
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It might have something similar to @Sandroad said about pulling certain models out of Michigan - after all, MI is the big 3 American manufacturer's home state, even though many "American" cars are being assembled in Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere...
 
4sallypat said:
It might have something similar to @Sandroad said about pulling certain models out of Michigan - after all, MI is the big 3 American manufacturer's home state, even though many "American" cars are being assembled in Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere...
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Michigan is only 1 of the 49 states now being denied the Clarity PHEV. I hope the other 48 didn't lose Clarity access because the Motor City is in Michigan. Also, since Chrysler was sold to Fiat, which was recently sold to Peugeot, it's becoming difficult to recognize the old "Big 3."
 
Unavailable or no longer available to dealers outside of California may have made for a more accurate statement. But these are the words of a car dealer. Were you expecting honesty?

Unavailable in certain markets and discontinued are nowhere near the same thing. This is only a slight variation of what Honda said months ago, which was the Clarity would be available for dealer stock in California and special order in other states. Now, according to one dealer, it may not be available in other states.
 
There are now 11 Zero Emission Vehicle states that will get the main share of all electrified vehicles. Many examples exist now. California happens to be by far the largest market within those 11 states, so it will get the most of those vehicles allocated, it seems to me. I plan to ask my Michigan dealer about this too.
 
Re: the "Clarity Discontinued" link, this is the initial response from AHM:
"The link displayed below is incorrect and will be fixed."

Have a call with AHM tomorrow and will pass on anything I hear (unless it is "off the record" a this time).
 
insightman said:
The sales manager's disappointment was obvious when I spoke with him today. He said they had to trade with other dealers to satisfy the demand for Claritys at his dealership.

This Truth In Cars author wrote last month that Honda has soured on electified cars, but he said that Honda was accepting special-orders for the Clarity. I don't believe anyone on this forum has heard of a successful special-order for a Clarity since Honda turned it into a California compliance car. It's too bad Canadian car warranties don't transfer with cars brought to the US.
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A poster on FB ordered one in Phoenix. She expects it to be delivered this week.

Suzanne Johnsen
November 29 at 6:14 PM
So I just went and signed on the bottom line for a Clarity. I live in Arizona so it will be shipped from California. Expect it next werk.
 
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DucRider said:
Re: the "Clarity Discontinued" link, this is the initial response from AHM:
"The link displayed below is incorrect and will be fixed."

Have a call with AHM tomorrow and will pass on anything I hear (unless it is "off the record" a this time).
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I hope that Honda not letting Germain order Clarities will also be fixed.
 
Had a phone call with AHM today
There will most defintely be a 2020 Clarity (all versions)
Fuel cell and electric version distribution will remain the same.
PHEV version availability will still be to "fill the strong demand in California" with a some fuzzy-talk about no demand in other markets, but dealers can definitely order, priority to other ZEV States, more allocation to dealers that have strong sales in the past. No commitment about on the ground inventory outside of California. When asked specifically about Oregon near the Auto Show time (February), it was "it depends on demand in CA".
Very insistent that dealers can place orders for sold units in all markets (Germain included).

Bottom line is that there is a 2020 Clarity PHEV, but availability is unlikely to be any different than that of the 2019
 
So my comment regarding this on the FB group was on point. It's a fake news post by a disreputable dealer.
 
Tek_Freek said:
So my comment regarding this on the FB group was on point. It's a fake news post by a disreputable dealer.
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As much as I like Germain, I cannot dispute that claiming the Clarity is discontinued when it just unavailable is a disreputable move.
 
insightman said:
As much as I like Germain, I cannot dispute that claiming the Clarity is discontinued when it just unavailable is a disreputable move.
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It was made clear, in no uncertain terms, during my conversation with Honda that the Germain website would be corrected in very short order and very likely had already been updated (but I haven't checked).

The only question that remains is whether it is that dealers outside of California are:
A) unwilling to special order a Clarity PHEV
b) unable to special order despite Honda's claim to the contrary

Honda claims it is "A", and I find that at least a little more likely than "B". There is no real upside for Honda to insist it is possible when it is not, but a dealer could see a big advantage in not going thru the hassle and instead pushing potential buyers towards an Accord Hybrid or something else they have on their lot (the Germain link was a good example of that).
 
Also consider that, in the current state of our trade-war-based economy, special-ordering a car from a factory in Japan is a very "iffy" proposition when tariffs could suddenly raise the price or compromise the availability.
 
DucRider said:
Had a phone call with AHM today
There will most defintely be a 2020 Clarity (all versions)
Fuel cell and electric version distribution will remain the same.
PHEV version availability will still be to "fill the strong demand in California" with a some fuzzy-talk about no demand in other markets, but dealers can definitely order, priority to other ZEV States, more allocation to dealers that have strong sales in the past. No commitment about on the ground inventory outside of California. When asked specifically about Oregon near the Auto Show time (February), it was "it depends on demand in CA".
Very insistent that dealers can place orders for sold units in all markets (Germain included).

Bottom line is that there is a 2020 Clarity PHEV, but availability is unlikely to be any different than that of the 2019
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for all of this information!
 
DucRider said:
Had a phone call with AHM today
There will most defintely be a 2020 Clarity (all versions)
Fuel cell and electric version distribution will remain the same.
PHEV version availability will still be to "fill the strong demand in California" with a some fuzzy-talk about no demand in other markets, but dealers can definitely order, priority to other ZEV States, more allocation to dealers that have strong sales in the past. No commitment about on the ground inventory outside of California. When asked specifically about Oregon near the Auto Show time (February), it was "it depends on demand in CA".
Very insistent that dealers can place orders for sold units in all markets (Germain included).

Bottom line is that there is a 2020 Clarity PHEV, but availability is unlikely to be any different than that of the 2019
Click to expand...
Thank you @DucRider for clarifying this with AHM.

I agree that CA is the leader of Clarity models being the major buyers.

Back to the OP, I think Germain made their own decision not to sell the Clarity because they don't want to hassle with the customer ordering, waiting, then hoping it will be actually purchased when it arrives. If a special order car does not sell, then the dealer is stuck with it and can't unload it and make a profit. I'm sure it's a profit issue for Germain....

This happens all the time with all brands - I have seen weirdly equipped / color combination BMW and Audi that were special ordered and then never purchased when it arrived. The dealer is trying to sell it and resorts to some crazy deal in order to get it off their lot.
 
^^^This

As I noted in the thread about A01 service...this topic demonstrates yet again the point about the lack of control Honda USA has over their dealership network. Apparently dealerships can say and do as they please with zero repercussion from the mother ship.

Great info provided by @DucRider and I'm sure the person he spoke with is well intentioned..fact remains the talk does not resonate outside the walls of the corporate glass tower. Pathetic really.

Many posts about folks asking dealers to order Clarity and told can't/won't so this is not a one-off...more of a culture gone bad.

The Clarity itself? Love the car. Factory worker bees n robots built a great car...totally separate issue from the inept management at Honda USA.

Something is very wrong with this picture.
 
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