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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Hatchbacks , Honda , Paris Motorcycle Show Click above for a high-res gallery of the Honda Insight Concept digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/New_Honda_Insight_unveiled_Prius_fighter_on_the_lot_in_2009'; Honda is reviving an old name for its new Global Hybrid that goes on sale next spring by calling it the Insight. The new five-door hatchback "Prius-Killer" will be the most direct competitor yet for Toyota's iconic hybrid. Learning from the lesson that hybrid buyers apparently prefer their cars to be recognizable as such rather than being derivatives of existing models, Honda has modeled the new Insight after its low volume FCX Clarity fuel cell car and will be debuting it as a concept at the Paris Motor Show next month before it goes on sale as the least expensive hybrid in the world in 2009. Recent comments by Honda have hinted at a price starting at $18,500 for the Insight, which goes on sale 10 years after the original...
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Filed under: Economy , Hatchbacks , Honda , First Drive Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Honda Fit Sport When Honda introduced the first generation Fit to the North American market in mid-2006, its timing couldn't have been better. The entry level hatchback appeared just as fuel prices in the U.S. were heading skyward. Ever since then, the Fit has been selling as fast as Honda can bring them in from Japan. The Fit (or Jazz as its known in some markets) debuted in 2001 and the second-generation model went on sale in Japan last fall. Honda showed the new U.S.-spec Fit at the New York Auto Show last spring and we had our first opportunity to drive it on the roads north of Ann Arbor, MI last week. As is typically the case with new models, the updated Fit has grown a bit (about 4 inches in overall length), but it's only about 44 pounds heavier than the outgoing model. Also in the usual fashion, Honda strove to increase the refinement of the Fit while not losing any of the...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Economy , Sedans/Saloons , Honda Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Honda Civic LX-S Just last weekend we brought you some leaked scans revealing the new face of the 2009 Civic, and today Honda makes it official by revealing all the changes made to its popular small car. As we've already learned, exterior changes include a new front bumper cover that reshapes the bottom curve of the grille and features three prominently placed, more traditional looking air intakes in place of the single large opening on 2008 and prior models. Honda also claimed it messed around with the color combinations of the headlights and taillights, but damned if we could tell. There's also new alloy wheels for the EX, EX-L and Si models, and the latter pocket rocket gets standard fog lamps, as well. The only other exterior change is a new piece of chrome that's been placed above the rear license plate holder. Finally, Honda has added two new trim levels: the LX-S that...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Honda Click above for two sets of '09 Civic Sedan brochure scans Honda hasn't released official shots of the facelifted 2009 Civic sedan yet, but it has started sending brochures to dealers. You know how this works: brochure > scanner > web > you, so here it is. Up front, the grille is reshaped to align Civic with its Honda brethren and the lower fascia gets a more aggressive three-opening treatment that lets the foglamps be pushed farther outboard. In back, the taillamps retain their shape, but the reverse light detailing is updated. Some models (from what we can see) now also get a trunklid chrome strip. Look for some new wheel designs sprinkled throughout, as well as two new trim levels -- the DX-VP (Value Package) and LX-S (Sport appearance package). We expect to see 4-door's front-end changes make their way onto the Civic coupe as well. We're sure scans and photos of that will appear soon enough, with official images and details...
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Filed under: Trucks/Pickups , Honda Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Honda Ridgeline All we have to go on are the images and information posted on Carscoop , but it appears the redesigned 2009 Honda Ridgeline is stepping out a bit early to what may be disinterested public. The Ridgeline for '09 gets Honda's new grille that first appeared on the '09 Pilot CUV, along with a new front bumper, headlights and all that jazz in the rear. The interior, while not all-new, gets major upgrades like a new steering wheel, gauges, and HVAC controls, as well as a Bluetooth HandsFreeLink, satellite navigation, a 115-volt power outlet and requisite jacks for the iPod and other MP3 players. According to Carscoop, Nissan has largely left the Ridgeline's 3.5L VTEC V6 the same except for a new camshaft profile and better breathing practices that net a 3 horsepower bump to 250 at 5,700 RPM and a torque increase of 2 lb-ft to 247 at 4,000 RPM. New ratios in the 5-speed automatic transmission...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Crossovers/CUVs , Acura , Honda Click above for high-res gallery of spy shots Honda/Acura engineers were recently caught testing a new sport crossover in the dead of night around the deserts of California, and while they came wielding flashlights to blind our spy photographer's lens, we got these pictures of what the luxury brand is up to in the quickly softening market for crossovers. The vehicle appears to be similar in shape to the BMW X6 despite the heavy camouflaging obscuring its profile. The windshield is very steeply raked and the shape of the cutout allowing the grille to breathe is reminiscent of Acura's new Superman-shaped grilles. Indeed, even the wheel and tire combination suggests that this is a crossover with sporting intentions. It may be a big brother to the RDX with more athletic moves than the MDX. Still, we can't help but wonder why Acura would be working on yet another crossover with those two already in its lineup, especially considering...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Green , Honda , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Honda OSM Honda says that the OSM roadster on display at the 2008 British Motor Show is merely a design study, but given that "design study" is frequently a euphemism for "future design language," we wonder if we're seeing the next iteration of Honda car styling. Frankly, we hope so, because this is worlds better than what we've seen from the automaker of late, from the Accord right on up to the bland and bloated Pilot. The OSM, short for Open Study Model, is a shapely two-seat convertible that we'd be happy to drive today. Well, maybe with headlamps that weren't lightsaber-sized. Other than that, we love the jaunty look, especially in back , where the taillamps sweep gently from one side of the car to the other. Since it's a styling exercise, there's no specific powertrain combination associated with it, but Honda assures us that...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Paris Motor Show , Honda Click above for a high-res gallery of Honda's new hybrid. Honda's oft - discussed , yet never spied Prius-fighter has been caught by the merry minions at KGP. A parade of three cars were shot in the desert, including the prototype you see above, a facelifted Civic Hybrid and the new model's arch rival, the Toyota Prius. While the cloaked mule's shape could be easily mistaken as a Prius, the two-tier instrument cluster is a dead giveaway of the prototype's Honda origins. The nose is notably lower than its Toyota competition and although the hatch is an obvious rip on the Prius' aerodynamic rear, the fenders have a discernibly steeper angle, along with a trunk lid sporting a small spoiler. The unnamed hybrid from Honda will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show later this year, and will adopt many of the design cues found on the big H's hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity sedan. Gallery...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Honda , Misc. Auto Shows The London Motor Show opens up on July 22nd and with it, comes a new concept from Honda, the Open Study Model or OSM. The lightweight, two-seater, open-air sports car is another design study by Honda that attempts to blend performance and sustainable motoring into a comprehensive package. Designed by Honda's R&D center in Offenbach, Germany, the OSM is a vehicle in the same environmentally friendly vein as the CR-Z concept unveiled in Tokyo last year, considered to be a low emissions alternative to the traditional sports coupe. The CR-Z is still slated to be released sometime next year , but Honda insists that the OSM is strictly a design study and is not confirmed for production. However, as OSM (read: awesome) as it may be, it's not the next S2000, according to Honda spokesperson Steve Kirk. [Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Wagons/Estates , Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Acura , Honda click above for more high-res images of the 2009 Honda Accord for Europe Not long after Honda showed off a single image of the new 2009 Acura TSX for the U.S. market, its doppelgänger was unveiled today as the 2009 Honda Accord and Accord Touring (wagon) for Europe. Set to debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show in early March, the new Euro Accord and its sporty wagon variant look much like our new TSX, save for a cleaner face with a traditional grille in place of the shield treatment given to Acura's new sport sedan. We particularly like the character line that bisects each door handle and meets the flared out front fender. Out back we see a new rear end that should be identical to the hind quarters of the new TSX. The Euro Accord will be offered with three high-tech engines, all of which are compliant with stricter Euro 5 emissions regulations. The first is the second-gen i-DTEC diesel producing...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sedans/Saloons , Geneva Motor Show , Honda Click image to enlarge While we're all awaiting the Euro-market Honda Accord's debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month, Honda appears to have already begun shipping examples of its new machine to dealers. At least that's the impression we get thanks to alert reader Bojan P., who snapped the accompanying shots of the new Accord on a transporter in Slovenia. While the taillamps are mostly obscured on the white car, the dark one in front of it leaves nothing to the imagination, and overall, you get a pretty good sense of what to expect when we see this car unveiled as the new Acura TSX (probably in New York). In any case, we don't have much longer to wait. Thanks to Bojan for the photos! Gallery: Spy Shots: 2008 Honda Accord (Euro) Gallery: European Honda Accord - teaser images Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: GM , Honda , Earnings/Financials As we reported earlier today , Toyota is not expected to reveal the actual number of vehicles it sold in 2007 until later this month, but a source has told Reuters that the number should be about 9.366 million units worldwide. GM announced earlier today that it sold 9,369,524 vehicles around the world last year, which official makes it the world's best-selling automaker for the 77nd year in a row, though by the slimmest of margins. We reiterate that owning this title makes little difference to either automaker. GM is in the midst of a turnaround in the U.S. market with sales in its own backyard still yet to rebound while Toyota is gaining marketshare in most regions around the world. Their global sales numbers are bound to cross paths at some point putting Toyota on top, and most analysts expect that to happen in 2008. Even if Toyota does pass GM in global sales for 2008, however, we don't expect it will be able to keep the title for...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Frankfurt Auto Show , Wagons/Estates , Honda Click for high-res gallery of live and media pics of this sexy wagon Although just a concept, the Honda Accord Tourer signals Honda's hopes to build a real, genuine, honest-to-goodness...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Honda Click the photo of polesitter Helio Castroneves for more warmup shots The IndyCars just finished up their final warmup for todays' race on Belle Isle. Helio Castroneves ended up on top of the session, with Scott Dixon...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Minivans/MPVs , Japan , Honda Winding Road is reporting that the next-generation Honda Stream mini-MPV may be sold in the U.S. Having just been redesigned last year, the next Stream won't arrive until 2009, and even then we doubt...
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