After enduring a seemingly endless litany of complaints regarding the design of the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour on the Crosstour Facebook page, Honda is finally attempting some damage control. Apparently, it's the photographers fault!

Some of the excuses are completely reasonable. For instance, Honda explains that the vehicle is built on the U.S. Accord platform and not the TSX platform, which is why it doesn't look like the European Honda Accord wagon. They also point out it's aimed at individuals (i.e. moms) in the crossover segment and their research shows it'll appeal to them. This could be true.

What really gets us, though, is this excuse:

The photos: Arguably, the two studio photos we posted didn't give you enough detail, nor were they the best to showcase the vehicle. There are more photos on the way. Maybe it's like a bad yearbook photo or something, and we think the new photos will clear things up.

This is a little hard to swallow. The two pictures are of the vehicle from the front 3/4 and rear 3/4 from different sides. At this point you've done as much as you possibly can to show the car from 360 degrees in two shots. Their post states "[N]or were they the best to showcase the vehicle." We're sorry, but if your vehicle is ugly from 3/4 front and 3/4 back it's just ugly and we doubt more detail is going to change that.

In the end, there could easily be buyers for this vehicle, but they're not the ones being targeted in the Facebook campaign. For one reason or another, 5,700 "fans" were convinced they'd get something like an attractive wagon and this crossover isn't pleasing to the vast majority of them. To quote Facebook user Daniel Ruiz II, "I am a car fanatic and a faithful Honda owner, I might not be the target audience for the car, but you shouldn't need to fit in to a certain market segment to find a car appealing."

The full statement from Honda is below.

Official Honda Statement

Hi, Facebook fans. We're listening, and we want to address a few things you've been talking about over the past few days.
1. The photos: Arguably, the two studio photos we posted didn't give you enough detail, nor were they the best to showcase the vehicle. There are more photos on the way. Maybe it's like a bad yearbook photo or something, and we think the new photos will clear things up.

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The first vehicle based on Ford's new global Focus platform, the new C-MAX will drop cloth later this month at the Frankfurt Motor Show. But, you say, why should we care? Well, because we're told it may wash ashore here.

The C-MAX, based on the iosis Max revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year is the first vehicle based on Ford's new Focus platform. Thus, expect the new global Focus to reflect the same design attitude and panache — but hopefully the new Focus will be more of a "dynamic passenger-car" rather than just exhibiting more of a "dynamic passenger-car look" as the C-MAX apparently does.

But, why, you may ask, should you care about a Focus-based MPV in Europe? Probably because our sources tell us we may actually see the C-MAX — or some derivative — wash onto our shores. We're told we'll find out more in Frankfurt.

Full press release in the gallery below.

FRANKFURT DEBUT FOR ALL-NEW FORD C-MAX:

COLOGNE, Germany, September 4, 2009 – Ford of Europe has released the first official images of the all-new Ford C-MAX, which will make its global debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The show opens to the public between September 17 and 27, 2009.

The new Ford C-MAX takes its design cues from the stunning iosis MAX concept car unveiled at this year's Geneva Motor Show, and brings new levels of style and desirability to the compact multi-activity vehicle (MAV) market.

Departing from usual MAV thinking by using Ford's 'kinetic design' styling language to adopt a more dynamic passenger-car look, the new model features a coupé-like, sweeping roofline while still retaining the established Ford C-MAX hallmarks of comfort, space, and practicality.

The new Ford C-MAX will introduce a host of new technologies to the Ford range, including an all-new 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost direct injection petrol engine and other advanced features to enhance convenience and safety such as semi-automatic parallel parking and a blind-spot detection system.

The Ford C-MAX will be launched in the second half of 2010 and is the first in a new generation of global vehicles developed from Ford's new C-segment platform, scheduled for introduction over the next several years. The global range will also include the all-new Ford Focus coming in late 2010.

Further details about the new Ford C-MAX will be released at Ford's Frankfurt press conference at 11.00 hrs (CET) on 15 September.

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1. Daily Downshift: September 1, 2009
2. Daily Downshift: September 2, 2009
3. Daily Downshift: August 4, 2009

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