Glass Half Full
Much has been said about the Honda Prelude, particularly its pricing. With a base price of $43,195, the coupe has garnered some comments about it being on the pricey side. The Prelude arrived in American showrooms in November 2025, with a target of 300 units per month. However, sales pickup was slow, and the first few months fell far below sales targets.
However, February has been the best month for the Prelude o far, showing a small up upward trajectory. Last month, the company managed to shift 299 Preludes, just one shy of the monthly sales goal. We’ll look at this as a ‘half glass full’ situation — at least Honda’s closer to its initial plan.
Glass Half Empty
That said, the Prelude is still the slowest-selling model in Honda’s American lineup. Its 299-unit figure is far lower than the next-lowest-selling car in the brand’s portfolio. That model is the Prologue, itself suffering a massive 63.6 percent sales decline compared to January’s tally. The EV crossover saw just 1,067 sales last month.
Granted, the Prelude is a niche model, and small sporty coupes aren’t a hot market right now. Still, there was a lot of buzz and fanfare surrounding its premiere, and the reception in America has, so far, been the opposite of that in Japan. Worse still, a discontinued Honda product outsold it last month as well.
Larry Printz
Beaten by 21 Units
Okay, we’ll be more specific: it’s a discontinued Acura product that has beaten the Prelude in sales. That model is the TLX, and it still managed to find 320 new customers in February. It’s ahead of Honda’s coupe by 21 cars, and considering production stopped in mid-2025, it’s not a bad showing for the axed sports sedan.
Yes, the target demographics for the TLX and Prelude are miles apart. However, it’s rather amusing that a car that’s finishing up inventory still outsold an all-new car with loads of hype. Still, given the upward trend in Prelude sales, we reckon it can finally breach the 300 units-per-month target that Honda had set for it.
Save the Coupes
As it is, compact coupes from non-luxury brands are hard to come by. Sales for them usually peak in the first few years, then decline sharply as those who have already bought them have them. Keeping interest in them is difficult, especially given that people flock to crossovers and SUVs these days.
Despite being $6,000 more expensive, the Prelude was virtually tied with Subaru BRZ sales last month. However, it’s worth noting that the Subaru has been around for quite some time and is currently in the middle of its life cycle. There’s a good chance that the Prelude could finally surpass it since it’s a newer model. Either way, people need to buy more coupes to at least give automakers some incentive to keep building them.
Back to the Prelude: if Honda maintains the model’s slow but steady growth, it might be on track to reach its annual sales target of 4,000 units. Nonetheless, it will be a tough ask, especially with sportier and more powerful options available for less.
Honda
