Head over the parapet and best foot forward

FIRST DRIVE:Honda is once more sticking its head above the parapet that seems to cloak more than a dozen brands in Ireland these days, making them virtually invisible – and forgotten – to all but loyal followers. Spanish brand Seat – owned by VW Group – remains one of those brands, and its tagline tells the tale: “The Irish motor industry’s best-kept secret”.

Carry out a straw poll in the average lunchtime canteen and you will find that there are several serious challengers for that title these days. Honda teeters on the brink of being one of these “secret brands”. Even those who recall the brand without prompting rarely can name more than the Civic from its model range. Honda remains in the motoring mindset, but it’s arguably due to the seepage of quality TV ads running in the UK and catching the eye of Irish viewers.

The problem faced by Honda is one that others with relatively small market shares must also surmount: obscurity. The public simply don’t consider them, and as a result their market share is small and the dealer network is limited, so the number of reminders and access points dwindles. This in turn feeds the limited market share. You get the picture. To break the vicious circle takes money or seriously good new models.

Can the CR-V be the car to do this? In fairness, that’s asking too much of a model that’s operating in a niche market with a quasi-premium price. The SUV craze is over and it will have a limited audience regardless of the brand.

The problem with the CR-V, then, has little to do with the car itself. It’s a competent piece of engineering, a comfortable and compliant family transporter, and competitively priced when you consider it’s a fully-fledged four-wheel drive.

Yet the volumes are unlikely to be high enough to make it as common a sight as the Qashqai, a model that is the only real star in Nissan’s line-up these days. And it’s up against the growing brand presence of the Koreans – both Hyundai and Kia. It’s unfair to a brand whose heritage and engineering prowess deserves to be rubbing shoulders with the premium set.

Smooth performer

Admittedly, work still needs to be done on the brand’s interiors, which have improved but are simply not up to the levels of European rivals. Here’s a trivial little example: push your head back in the headrest and, after the initial feel of very soft sponge, you encounter the harsh metal frame of the seat. That’s not the sort of thing you expect to encounter on a €40,000 car. It’s a silly little point but it sums up several areas where the interior doesn’t come up to some of the premium – or quasi-premium – players.

The engine is – as one would expect from a proudly engineering-orientated car firm – a smooth performer. It’s expertly soundproofed, so you hear none of the gruffness that you get in rivals, and there’s a nice, chunky short-throw transmission that instils a real sense that the driver is in full control of the power on hand.