Honda
Honda Worker Stopped By Authorities In Alabama Due To Immigration Laws
Alabama has taken on the toughest immigration laws in the country and has begun to crack down on illegal immigrants, immediately affecting the fifth largest automotive manufacturing state in the country. A second foreign auto worker was issued a citation at Honda‘s factory in Lincoln, Alabama on Wednesday. The new immigration law requires proper identification…
Honda Ridgeline Will Remain In Production
The Ridgeline is a slow seller, but Honda isn’t ready to give up their only truck bed-bearing model just yet. The 2012 model will be getting a slight facelift along with a lower-cost sport (pictured above) model. The four-door pickup hasn’t managed to take hold since 2006 when it was first released. Those slow sales…
Honda Civic’s U.S. Failure Is CEO’s Responsibility
Honda CEO Takanobu Ito stepped up and assumed responsibility for the Honda Civic’s miserable start in the United States, telling Automotive News that “The ultimate responsibility rests with me.” The Civic was left off the Consumer Reports list of recommended vehicles, a rarity for any Honda product. Cheap interior materials were blamed, and many reviewers reported…
Honda AC-X is a 260 MPG Self-Driving Hybrid: 2011 Tokyo Motor Show
Looking into the more distant future is what the Tokyo Motor Show is all about and Honda has continued a long line of wild concepts by debuting the AC-X concept today. Powering the car is a 1.6-liter gasoline engine mated to a plug-in hybrid system, which Honda claims will deliver a 260 mpg rating on…
Honda EV-STER Electric Sports Car is a 21st Century Beat: 2011 Tokyo Motor Show
The star attraction of Honda’s Tokyo Motor Show press conference is an all-new electric sports car concept. Initially billed as the Small Sports EV Concept, at it’s debut Honda is now referring to the car as the EV-STER. The rear wheel drive two seater looks like a spiritual successor to the Beat sporty car. Measuring…
Honda Electric SH-AWD to be Paired with Hybrid V6, 7-Speed Dual Clutch
Known for its technology innovations, Honda’s R&D efforts have been somewhat lackluster as of late. The Japanese automaker appears to have turned a corner, however, announcing a long list of new engines and technologies. Easily the most revolutionary is an electric SH-AWD system that will be paired with a new V6 hybrid powertrain and 7-speed…
Honda Previews New Engine Lineup: Direct Injection and CVTs Coming
Much has been said about the new Honda Civic receiving a list of early updates in a bid to silence critics while restoring the car’s class-leading fuel economy. This has all but been confirmed, with the Japanese automaker revealing an entire new lineup of engines and transmissions at a press briefing held at the Twin…
Honda Micro Commuter Car Concept Revealed: 2011 Tokyo Motor Show
One of Honda‘s numerous reveals today at the Tokyo Motor Show is a wild little concept car referred to as the “Micro Commuter Concept.” An EV designed for personal transportation it is a half-foot shorter in length than a Smart fortwo, but offers room for three thanks to a central diving position with a passenger…
Honda Two-Mode Hybrid Promises to be World’s Most Efficient, Headed to Production in 2012
Along with a new lineup of direct-injection gasoline engines and a performance-oriented electric SH-AWD equipped V6 hybrid model, Honda has announced a new two-mode hybrid system that will come paired with a 4-cylinder engine. Replacing the brand’s out-dated Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) single-mode hybrid system it will allow for an electric-only range at low speeds,…
Mugen Honda CR-Z Confirmed For Production
Even though it was originally reported that Mugen’s supercharged Honda CR-Z would never see production, it looks like Toyota‘s introduction of the GT 86 and Subaru‘s BRZ might have changed Honda’s mind just a little bit. Mugen Euro and Honda confirmed that their supercharged 197-hp CR-Z will see the light of day with an estimated…
Honda NSX Concept Heading to Detroit Auto Show
With an announcement by Honda that it will debut a small electric sports car concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, rumors are swirling that more performance concepts are on their way. According to a report by AutoCar, after the reveal of the Small Sports EV Concept (above) in Tokyo, Honda will then debut a Super…
Kia Design Boss Peter Schreyer Picks His LA Auto Show Favorites
Kia design boss Peter Schreyer took Automotive News reporter Ryan Beene on a tour of the Los Angeles Auto Show, outlining his favorite designs of the show floor. The big winners for Schreyer were the Range Rover Evoque (“If it wasn’t labeled a Range Rover, you’d recognize it as one”), the Porsche 911 and the…
Top 12 Most Profitable Vehicles
While automakers and outside research firms publish sales figures and earnings reports on a regular basis, one metric we rarely get a glimpse of is how profitable each vehicle is. In an era of re-badging and platform sharing, one would think that the most profitable vehicles are those with a large number of derivatives to…
Honda, McLaren Rumored to Join Forces in F1 Again
One of the most successful partnerships in the history of Formula 1 has to be the combination of a Honda engine in a McLaren chassis and body, with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel. It was the perfect partnership which saw the team win many races and championships. Over the last 16-years, McLaren…
Acura MDX To Be Built In Alabama To Offset Rising Yen
Honda announced today that they would use excess capacity at their Alabama plant following a $300 million investment in the facility. The investment will allow for a total of 340,000 units anually. Rising exchange rates are forcing Honda to devote more resources to North American production while reducing exports. Honda will shift their Acura MDX…
Top 10 Most Fuel Efficient Cars of 2012
The Top 10 Most Fuel Efficient cars have been named for 2012 by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA (those guys that come up with the official ratings for cars) has compiled the list, which is dominated by Japanese automakers. Those remaining two are domestic vehicles, although with one being a commercial van, it almost…
Hybrids Safer For Drivers, Dangerous For Pedestrians
Believe it or not, hybrids are safer in a crash than their gasoline-only counterparts, according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute. “Hybrids on average are 10 percent heavier than their standard counterparts,” Moore said in a statement today. “This extra mass gives them an advantage in crashes that their conventional twins…
Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Wins “2012 Green Car of the Year” Award
The 2011 Green Car of the Year award isn’t going to an electric car or a hybrid. The winner is the Honda Civic GX, a car that has an internal combustion engine, but that doesn’t burn any gasoline at all. That’s because it’s powered by natural gas. The Civic beat out the Ford Focus Electric,…
2012 Honda CR-V Unveiled: 2011 LA Auto Show
Although we had the chance to drive the 2012 Honda CR-V back in October, Honda has kept a tight lid on both photos and driving impressions. The car got its official reveal Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show, just as Ford took the wraps off its all-new Escape. Like its predecessors, the CR-V will…
2013 Honda Fit EV Gets 123 Mile Range: 2011 LA Auto Show
The Honda Fit EV just made its World Debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show and we want to take this opportunity to tell Nissan that it needs to watch its mirrors. Promising a range close to the Leaf Leaf (123 miles vs 138 for the Leaf), and a price of just $36,625, the new…
MINI To Join B-Spec Racing
MINI has announced that they will be entering the B-Spec racing class in 2012, with MINI of Charleston, a franchise owned by Hendrick Automotive Group. The B-Spec car will be a base Mini Cooper Hardtop with a 1.6L 121-horsepower engine. The car will weigh 2,535 lbs and KW Variant 1 coilovers, upgraded brake pads and…
Honda Expanding Light Truck, Engine Output at Alabama Plant
As the North American economy slowly turns towards the better, automotive manufacturers with plants within the United States looks to make some big changes in order to meet their new increased levels of demand. Honda is now looking to spend $84 million towards hiring 100 more workers and expanding the production of their light trucks…
2012 Chevrolet Camaro Gets First Perfect NHTSA Crash Test Rating
Gas, tires and insurance probably don’t matter much if you’re in the market for a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro or Ford Mustang, but safety does. The Camaro and Mustang GT come with more-or-less comparable horsepower and grunt off the line. What the test drive won’t show you is that the Camaro is the first car to…
Japanese Automakers Re-Start Production In Thailand
While Thailand is mostly known for sandy beaches, fake watches and other pleasures that need to be paid for in cash, Thailand has a strong manufacturing base, with many automakers producing vehicles and components in the developing nation. October’s flooding, which ravaged the Southeast Asian country, made a major dent in the production figures of…
