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In Switzerland I see them relatively often. Their current overall market share here is 2.4%. For comparison, Ford has 5.4%, Toyota 4.7%. Maybe the variety here

In Switzerland I see them relatively often. Their current overall market share here is 2.4%. For comparison, Ford has 5.4%, Toyota 4.7%. Maybe the variety here is a bit unique, even the largest brand Volkswagen only has 11.5%. Having tried many different brands thanks to carsharing (also very popular here), I have to say that one thing is a bit strange in Hondas - the controls, as in switches, are a bit different from what most Europeans are used to. At least for me it took the longest to get used to it compared to many other brands. It seems they are less adapted from the Japanese base models, which would speak against the article - maybe Honda did a better job in other markets than EU.

bane 12y ago
> I have to say that one thing is a bit strange in Hondas - the controls, as in switches, are a bit different from what most Europeans are used to. I had use of a couple of Audis years ago and could never get used to the controls. It seemed like everything was designed to be in a place I'd either want to rest an arm (and therefore accidentally trigger) or force me to take my eyes off the road and change my body position to operate. One of them, the A3, was particularly terrible, burying the radio controls almost down as low on the dash as you could put it for example. I remember one experience in particular, I was on the A9 from Nuremberg going towards Munich. The car was still pretty new to me, but I'd been driving it pretty steadily for a few weeks. I was listening to the radio, the show changed and all I wanted to do was scan the dial for the next station. I had to lean over with my head virtually below the dash to reach the dial, and it being an Audi there were dozens of buttons and dials. I accidentally hit one of the preset buttons instead of "scan forward" and it switched to an Opera (which I don't particularly care for). I couldn't figure out, while driving how to fix this, accidentally turned the volume up instead of down and ended up with red Audi dash lights blaring me in the face while doing 170kph absolutely blasting Opera music out of the car. Being Germany of course there weren't big American style shoulders for me to pull over on and fix the situation so I had to exit and drive till I found a place to park for 10 minutes to fix this mess. The entire time I was doing this I was thinking of the Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas I had driven right before that, where that entire operation was a glance and a comfortable no-lean reach to the ergonomically placed controls that were just at arms reach away. The Audis were fun cars to drive, but knowing that doing something like changing the radio station might put my life at risk, I decided never to buy one. So yeah the switches are definitely in different places, but I think that they're in better places overall.
- m_mueller 12y ago
  I think luxury cars tend to have worse controls, probably because they need to cover many more features, so they aren't very representative. If you want typical European controls, have a look at a run-off-the-mill Volkswagen, Renault, Opel or Ford with stick shift. Yes, American brands tend to be very well adapted to the market.

bane 12y ago

> I have to say that one thing is a bit strange in Hondas - the controls, as in switches, are a bit different from what most Europeans are used to. I had use of a couple of Audis years ago and could never get used to the controls. It seemed like everything was designed to be in a place I'd either want to rest an arm (and therefore accidentally trigger) or force me to take my eyes off the road and change my body position to operate. One of them, the A3, was particularly terrible, burying the radio controls almost down as low on the dash as you could put it for example. I remember one experience in particular, I was on the A9 from Nuremberg going towards Munich. The car was still pretty new to me, but I'd been driving it pretty steadily for a few weeks. I was listening to the radio, the show changed and all I wanted to do was scan the dial for the next station. I had to lean over with my head virtually below the dash to reach the dial, and it being an Audi there were dozens of buttons and dials. I accidentally hit one of the preset buttons instead of "scan forward" and it switched to an Opera (which I don't particularly care for). I couldn't figure out, while driving how to fix this, accidentally turned the volume up instead of down and ended up with red Audi dash lights blaring me in the face while doing 170kph absolutely blasting Opera music out of the car. Being Germany of course there weren't big American style shoulders for me to pull over on and fix the situation so I had to exit and drive till I found a place to park for 10 minutes to fix this mess. The entire time I was doing this I was thinking of the Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas I had driven right before that, where that entire operation was a glance and a comfortable no-lean reach to the ergonomically placed controls that were just at arms reach away. The Audis were fun cars to drive, but knowing that doing something like changing the radio station might put my life at risk, I decided never to buy one. So yeah the switches are definitely in different places, but I think that they're in better places overall.

m_mueller 12y ago
I think luxury cars tend to have worse controls, probably because they need to cover many more features, so they aren't very representative. If you want typical European controls, have a look at a run-off-the-mill Volkswagen, Renault, Opel or Ford with stick shift. Yes, American brands tend to be very well adapted to the market.