Honda will stop making Element

Honda Motor Co., the fourth-largest automaker in the U.S., said it will discontinue the Element sport-utility vehicle after the 2011 model as sales fall for the seventh straight year.

Deliveries of the Element peaked at 67,478 in 2003 and have declined every year since, dropping to 12,960 this year through November.

Consumers have shifted to models like Honda's CR-V compact crossover SUV, the Tokyo-based company said Friday in an e-mailed statement. "Compact SUVs have been one of the strongest segments this decade, but the Element never proved to be a high-volume seller despite its low price," Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst for automotive data provider Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif., said in an e-mailed statement.

"It probably suffered from too much competition — even from within its own showroom."