IRVINE, Calif. — Perhaps in response to Toyota's surge of incentives, Honda has quietly entered the market with a very aggressive leasing program, in addition to some special financing deals.

For instance, the automaker is now offering special deals on the Honda Accord Coupe, Accord Crosstour, CR-V, CR-V 4-Wheel Drive, Civic Coupe, Civic, Element, Fit, Insight, Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline. Most of the deals will run through May 3, according to Honda's site.

As an example, Honda is offering a closed-end lease for 2010 CR-V 2WD LX automatic for $300 per month for 36 months with a no capitalized cost reduction. The deal is available to customers who qualify for the AHFC Super Preferred credit tier.

Other rates/tiers are available under this offer, officials noted. Zero is due at lease signing, including nothing for the first month's payment and no capitalized cost reduction with no security deposit. However, total net capitalized cost and base monthly payment does not include tax, license, title, registration, documentation fees, options, insurance and the like, executives said.

"Not all buyers may qualify. Zero due at lease signing offer requires dealer contribution, which could affect final negotiated transaction," Honda executives highlighted.

On the Pilot, the automaker is offering a closed-end lease for a 2010 Pilot 2WD LX Automatic for $350 per month for 36 months with a no capitalized cost reduction available to customers who qualify for the AHFC Super Preferred credit tier. Other rates/tiers are also available under this offer.

Zero is due at lease signing, including nothing for the first month's payment and no capitalized cost reduction with no security deposit; total net capitalized cost and base monthly payment does not include tax, license, title, registration, documentation fees, options, insurance and the like.

Honda is also offering some special deals on financing, such as special AHFC APR financing available on all new 2009 and 2010 Accord models. The deal includes 0.9 percent APR financing for 24-36 months, or 1.9 percent APR financing for 37-60 months, available to customers who qualify for the AHFC Super Preferred credit tier.

The company highlighted the example of a 2010 Accord Coupe. The model is available for 0.9 percent APR for 36 months financing at $28.16 a month for every thousand financed. The company noted that dealers set actual vehicle sales prices.

Shedding some light on the recent offerings from Honda, Eric Ibara, director of residual consulting for Kelley Blue Book, indicated, "The Japanese manufacturers' fiscal year end is March 31, so it's not unusual to see a high amount of incentives from Toyota and Honda every March.

"While this may be seasonal, the current (incentives) from Toyota and Honda are unusually high. Toyota needed to put money on the hood to bring consumers back to the dealer lots, and Honda may have anticipated a pinch from Toyota's spiff and launched a massive campaign of their own in an effort to also realize some of these sales prior to year-end and better compete with Toyota," he added.

Meanwhile, James Bell, executive market analyst for KBB, noted, "This Honda program snuck in very quietly. Their huge new lease program is proof that Toyota's recent flood of incentives might just be impacting Honda as well. This type of reaction could spark a new round of incentives among several more manufacturers. The irony is that Toyota, prior to their recent recall, was one of the brands that shied away from heavy incentives because their rock-solid reputation allowed them to easily move metal at, or close to, MSRP."

Ibara pointed out that short-term incentives tend to have less of an effect on future values than long-term incentives.

He went on to explain, "Attractive lease offers can increase market penetration but it also creates a larger volume of lease returns for the banks in the end. What remains to be seen is how large the volume of leases Toyota and Honda incentives create, as it is the volume that will have the most detrimental impact on future residual values."

Further sharing insight, Juan Flores, director of vehicle valuation for KBB, highlighted, "With an aggressive program like Honda's, we expect that there could be more of a downward trend on the current value of used Hondas now that it's cheaper to lease a new Honda than it is to buy a used one. Kelley Blue Book is keeping a close eye on both Toyota and Honda's incentive programs to determine both the long- and short-term effects they will have on their respective brands."

So far, Toyota incentives have apparently worked in driving higher demand for the automaker's models.

According to KBB, 7 percent of car shoppers who indicated they were not considering a Toyota prior to the incentive announcements now are. Moreover, the week-over-week percentages of consumers who indicate that they would never consider a Toyota again dropped from 17 percent to 13 percent.

In even more positive news, the company discovered that Toyota consideration has climbed considerably over the last week, actually jumping to higher levels than what was witnessed prior to the massive recalls.

The latest data finds that 45 percent of in-market new-car shoppers are now considering a Toyota, which is up 13 percent from the previous week when only 32 percent of shoppers were considering the brand.

This week's levels also apparently leaped 7-percent above Toyota's consideration prior to the major recall announcements in mid January when the brand was witnessing 38 percent consideration.

Officials also pointed out that this week's levels are 17 percent higher than Toyota's consideration was at during the lowest point during the recall crisis, which was 28 percent in early February.

"Toyota may be finally turning a corner," noted Bell. "Between their aggressive realignment of production to be more in line with demand, the company's current incentive offerings and the understanding that the recall issue, while severe, is statistically small, it's not surprising that Toyota is now on the road to recovery."

And the company appears to believe that Toyota's resurgence could result in other automakers, in addition to Honda, in introducing significant leasing deals or other hefty incentives to remain competitive.