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Honda to Kill S2000 in December

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Honda today confirmed that its successful S2000 model will be discontinued at the end of the year, with the Japanese automaker insisting that although it was initially supposed to represent a limited-edition, it proved to be a surprisingly popular car. No less than 110,000 S2000s were sold across the globe, with nearly 65,000 units delivered only in the United States since its official launch in 1999. The S2000 was sold in 64 countries around the world.

S2000 officially saw daylight in 1999 and was meant to represent a limited-edition model especially designed to celebrate Honda's 50th anniversary. However, due to the positive market feedback, the Japanese manufacturer decided to extend the production and sell the model in various regions around the world.

"The S2000 is a sports car designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "It raised the bar for all future roadsters, and it's already considered a classic by many Honda fans."

But which are the reasons for discontinuing such a popular product, you ask? Well, there are several aspects which, during recession times, make this decision a pretty obvious one. First of all, the S2000 was a fairly old model so, in case the manufacturer aimed to continue the same ascending sales trend, it had to concentrate on an upgraded version. Secondly, the S2000 had a combined fuel consumption of 9.9 l/100km (23.8 mpg) which can be easily regarded as unacceptable by some United States customers hungry for small-displacement engines.

And speaking of engines, Americans are no longer interested in high-performance units, such as the one featured by S2000 – 2.0-liter 250 hp, but in small-displacement versions, particularly focused on fuel-economy and CO2 emissions.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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