2004 Honda Odyssey Earns Top Spot in Vehicle Satisfaction Survey; Wins Car and Driver Magazine Minivan Comparison Test

TORRANCE, Calif., May 7, 2004 -- For the second straight year, the Honda Odyssey earned the highest rating of any minivan in the AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award (VSA), a study measuring owners' satisfaction with their new vehicles. The Honda Odyssey ranked first among twelve minivans with a Vehicle Satisfaction Score (VSS) of 670, demonstrating its continued leadership in the very competitive minivan segment.

In addition, the Honda Odyssey finished first in a comparison test of full size minivans in the June 2004 edition of Car and Driver magazine, outscoring the Toyota Sienna, Nissan Quest, Dodge Grand Caravan and Ford Freestar. The editors of Car and Driver praise the Odyssey for its strong engine, spacious accommodations and taut driving responses. In testing, the Odyssey earned top marks for horsepower, towing capacity, acceleration (0-60mph/30-50mph/50-70mph) and fuel economy.

"Odyssey continues to lead the pack even in the face of some pretty stiff competition," said Tom Elliott, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "This recognition from our owners and the editors of Car and Driver speaks to Odyssey's reputation as a truly class-leading vehicle in terms of its performance, style, features and value."

AutoPacific releases VSA results yearly as a consumer and industry service. This study allows manufacturers and key suppliers to assess and compare their vehicles on a feature level with the best in the business. The VSS score results from the multiplication of the importance and satisfaction ratings for over 40 attributes pertaining to purchasing decisions and satisfaction after a purchase.

"When shopping for a minivan, many people don't shop for any other vehicle than Odyssey. They don't have to," said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, Inc. "Maybe they already own an Accord or Civic, value the bulletproof build quality of Hondas, and need a minivan. They hear Odyssey is the best minivan around, like what they see in the one trip they've made to a dealership, and from that point on are completely sold."

Additional media information and high-resolution image downloads of Honda products are available at www.hondanews.com.