What happens when the Si goes toe-to-toe with some of the fiercest vehicles of the future? Watch Agents Black & White battle their way to the finish line with the help of their high-tech Civic Si rides.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Honda Jazz Hybrid: Prius C rival here in December
The Jazz Hybrid will give Honda a direct rival for the city-sized Toyota Prius C, which went on sale in March from $23,990, usurping the $29,990 Honda Insight to take the title of Australia’s cheapest hybrid.
Honda Australia director Stephen Collins says he is not interested in entering a “price war” with Toyota and says making the Jazz Hybrid the cheapest petrol-electric vehicle on the market is not the primary goal. Regardless, he is hopeful Honda Australia’s fourth hybrid – following the Civic, Insight and CR-Z – will be priced below $25,000 when it launches in the coming months.
“It depends on a few things, but I think for a Jazz light car [sub-$25,000 is] pretty much in the ballpark of where you’ve got to be,” Collins told CarAdvice.
“We’re not setting out to have the cheapest hybrid. The key for us is making sure the Jazz Hybrid offers good value for money. We’ll make it as competitive as we can, we’ll spec it well, we’ll price it as good as we can, and ultimately the market determines where it goes from there.”
The Honda Jazz Hybrid teams a 65kW/121Nm 1.3-litre petrol engine with a 10kW/78Nm electric motor for a combined output of 75kW of power and 199Nm of torque. A continuously variable transmission sends drive to the front wheels, helping the Jazz Hybrid accelerate from 0-100km/h in 12.1 seconds.
According to the European combined test cycle, the Jazz Hybrid uses 4.5 litres of fuel per 100km, making it 22 per cent more fuel efficient than the conventional non-hybrid 1.3-litre Jazz GLi, but still 15 per cent thirstier than the Prius C at 3.9L/100km.
Honda will be hoping its Jazz Hybrid can mirror the success of the Toyota Prius C, which has become the top-selling compact hybrid in the country over the past three months. A total of 652 Prius C hatches have been delivered so far this year, putting it ahead of the Lexus CT200h (633), the standard Prius (443), the CR-Z (147) and the Insight (124).
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Imagine That: Honda, Mercedes-Benz Top Yearly Harris Interactive Brand Poll
Harris Interactive’s annual EquiTrend study looks at brand equity, a proprietary measure of a brand’s health and standing with consumers and the general public. In 2011, it named Ford the full-line manufacturer with the most brand equity and put Chevrolet in second place; Honda came in third. In the luxury carmaker category, Mercedes-Benz topped Lexus and BMW.
This year, the luxury landscape looks much the same: Mercedes-Benz sits atop the group of luxury car brands with a 61.02 equity score. BMW managed to edge out Lexus this year, 58.71 to 58.4. Other top brands include Cadillac (58.39), Acura (56.32), and Audi (55.36).
But fortunes have turned in the full-line category: Honda managed a two-place jump in a year, topping the full-line category with a 62.55 score. Toyota took second place with a 62.51 score, and last year’s number one, Ford, took third place with a 62.1. Chevrolet, last year’s second place, fell to number four with a score of 61.95.
What does this mean? A high brand equity number signals good brand health and a good standing with potential buyers, so these numbers suggest that Japanese brands like Honda and Toyota are back in a big way. It also shows that many brands have a lot of work to do: Chevrolet’s sibling brand Cadillac made the top eight in luxury cars, but Buick ranked below average; likewise, Lincoln faltered while Ford continued its reign as the best American brand. Conversely, Hyundai scored an above-average ranking (showing lots of improvement over last year, when it rated below average) while Kia didn’t make the cut.
In the meantime, it looks like there’s some competition on the horizon: if Harris Interactive’s metrics are an accurate predictor of sales success, Honda’s new Accord sedan could prove an even more serious competitor for the Toyota Camry than it already is. Honda’s obviously thinking the same thing: American Honda VP of National Marketing Operations said “the combination of strong brand equity and a fresh line-up of new models that resonate with customers will drive strong growth for us this year.”
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Car Maintenance Tips & Tricks : How to Restore Cloudy Headlights
Cloudy headlights can be restored in a very specific way. Find out how to restore cloudy headlights with help from an expert in the automotive industry in this free video clip.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Honda, Lexus Are Tops In Perceived Quality; Ford, Hyundai Improve
When it comes to perceived quality -- that is, how consumers view brands, based on personal experience and word-of-mouth -- Honda and Lexus are at the top of their game. That's according to ALG, a California-based company that has been predicting valuations in the automotive industry for almost 50 years.
In the spring of this year, ALG interviewed asked roughly 4,000 consumers to share their opinions of both mass-market and luxury car brands. Participants told ALG a bit about their familiarity with each brand and assigned those brands a score of 0 to 100.
Mass-market rankings
On the mass-market front, Honda scored an impressive 81.3 points, though Toyota came in a very close second at 80.1. Six other brands scored above the industry average of 59.1, most of which were Asian marques:
Subaru (71.1)
Ford (70.5)
Nissan (70.2)
Volkswagen (69.6)
Mazda (64.0)
Hyundai (62.3)
At the other end of the scale, five brands scored below the 50-point mark. Unfortunately, three of the five are owned by Chrysler:
Chrysler (49.1)
Dodge (48.8)
Suzuki (48.1)
Fiat (44.5)
Smart (39.6)
It's worth noting, however, that Ford and Hyundai may be the big winners in ALG's survey, since public perception of both has soared over the past several years. According to ALG, Ford’s perception of quality has jumped about 37% since 2008, while Hyundai's score has surged 25%.
ALG also gives a shout-out to Dodge, Fiat, Kia, and Scion. Eric Lyman, ALG’s Vice President of Residual Value Solutions, says that "Kia and Dodge are great examples of perception improvement based on product and marketing.... Both brands have launched exciting new product and impactful messaging. While they both face significant history to overcome, consumers are beginning to recognize their improvement."
Luxury rankings
In the luxury segment, things were slightly more competitive. Lexus was the clear winner, but the slope down to the luxury average of 71.2 was pretty gradual:
Lexus (85.4)
Mercedes-Benz (82.9)
BMW (81.5)
Porsche (80.0)
Acura (78.2)
Infiniti (77.6)
Volvo (75.7)
Audi (74.2)
And below deck:
Cadillac (67.2)
Lincoln (67.0)
Land Rover (60.4)
Jaguar (58.8)
Alfa Romeo (56.2)
Perhaps the most interesting part of this study comes at the end of ALG's report, where the firm explores the relationship between familiarity, ownership, and perception of brand quality.
For example, survey participants seemed largely unfamiliar with Smart, but felt that it wasn't a quality brand. On the other hand, consumers weren't all that familiar with Alfa Romeo either -- perhaps because it's not sold in the U.S. yet -- but scored it 15 points higher.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Apple adding a new button to your car, will activate Siri
Called Eyes Free, it's basically just a steering wheel-mounted button that will activate Siri on the iPhone or iPad (yes, they announced Siri is coming to the new iPad, too) you have with you in the car. Likely paired over Bluetooth, Eyes Free will let you talk to Siri through the car, giving you access to a wealth of information without using both your eyes and hands (except for that initial button press). And since this is Apple, automakers are apparently lining up to add Siri buttons to their steering wheels. Apple reports that BMW, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler and Honda are all signed up to start offering Eyes Free within the next 12 months.
We find it curious that GM has chosen to participate, considering that what Siri offers is not at all unlike what the automaker's subscription-based OnStar service provides. Conspicuously missing from the list of on-board automakers is Ford, whose Sync infotainment systems are all based on Microsoft-branded technology.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Honda Solar Panels Help Power New Aquarium of the Pacific Penguin Habitat
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., founding sponsor of the nonprofit Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, is providing Honda solar cell technology to help power the Aquarium's new June Keyes Penguin Habitat. The 11-kilowatt system provides a reliable supply of clean energy that is expected to reduce the Aquarium's reliance on grid-supplied electricity by more than 14,000 kilowatt hours per year. The new June Keyes Penguin Habitat opened to the public May 17, 2012.
This is the first public demonstration of Honda's solar panels in the United States. Honda currently has thin film solar panels installed in 22 Honda facilities worldwide -- including the company's motorsports engineering facility in Santa Clarita, Calif. and an auto manufacturing plant in Indiana. Honda's longstanding relationship with the Aquarium prompted this public debut. Since 1998, Honda has assisted with the Aquarium's important efforts for marine conversation, education and community outreach programs.
The June Keyes Penguin Habitat, a permanent new exhibit at the Aquarium, houses Magellanic penguins typically found near the southern tip of South America. Today, environmental issues are threatening their survival in the wild. The habitat includes educational exhibit panels and interactive touch screens where visitors can learn about penguins and why 75 percent of them are endangered or threatened.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Honda Says Electric Fit Beat Ford Focus to Top EPA Range Rating
The 2013 Fit EV, available only in California and Oregon this year, averages 82 miles (132 kilometers) per charge of its lithium-ion battery pack in combined city and highway driving in Environmental Protection Agency test results, Honda said in an e-mailed statement. The EPA rates the Leaf as averaging 73 miles per charge, lower than the Focus’s 76 miles and higher than the 62 miles for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (7211)’s i-MiEV.
The Fit, whose availability will be expanded to other U.S. regions in 2013, is also faster in recharging than competing models as the small hatchback needs only three hours to get a full charge from a 240-volt electric outlet, Tokyo-based Honda said.
Automakers are adding electric and plug-in hybrid autos to their U.S. lineups to meet demand for vehicles that use little or no gasoline and to comply with rules in California. Honda, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), Nissan, Ford, General Motors Co. (GM) (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC have to sell a total of about 60,000 such vehicles from this model year through 2014, and more than a 1 million annually by 2025.
The Fit EV is currently available only as a leased model, with customers required to pay $389 a month, the company said in April. The annual cost of electricity to refuel the car should be about $500, Honda said in the statement.
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Next Honda Civic Type R spotted near 'Ring
It looks as if Honda may be working on a new Civic Type R for the European market. Photographers spotted this creation poking around the Nürburgring during test runs. With a prominent rear wing, larger exhaust outlets and more pronounced front aero work, the hatchback clearly has some sporting intentions. Odds are engineers have worked in a stiffer set of springs and dampers along with a more powerful four-cylinder engine. How powerful? Early estimates put the machine at between 220 and 230 horsepower, though there's no official word on the figure.
The car is clearly still in the early stages of development, so there's no telling what Honda may come up with in terms of styling, handling or performance. Even so, we have to say what we see here lacks much of the visual menace of the last-generation Civic Type R, so let's hope that Honda finds a bit more aggression for their hottest Civic.
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