• New Honda Civic Hatchback promises to be more versatile, heads to Frankfurt in September

    03Aug
    Categories: Civic Comments: 0

    Japanese carmaker Honda will put spotlight on the ninth generation Civic Hatchback for their European market in the Frankfurt Motor Show this year. Initially, Honda released initial pictures of the new hatchback in full camouflage

    Honda aims to make this Civic hatchback more confident, verrsatile, and clever through good looks in perfect combination with great passenger and luggage space. The manufacturer claims that they have improved the ride comfort and quality compared to its older sibling.

    The 2012 Civic hatchback will roll out the market some time next year.

    The designers and engineers of Honda devoted a lot of effort to improve the handling and ride quality of the Civic hatchback by making significant improvements in its suspension system. The car has also been tested on the race tracks and streets subjecting it to different road conditions.

    The Civic is still using a beam suspension system utilizing a rear torsion with fluid filled bushes to make sure of the big space for the cabin and improve the handling.

    The Civic hatchback has the Volkswagen Golf, Opel Astra, and the Ford Focus as its main competitors in Europe.

    Honda also disclosed that the new Civic hatchback and the new CR-V will be made in their Swindon factory in England. The volume of production will also be normalizing by September after the company experienced shortage of supplies following the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. The CR_V is expected to roll out by fall of 2012 in Europe or about a year after its US introduction.

    Tags: , , ,

  • Honda’s Profit Expectations Raised

    01Mar
    Categories: Honda Comments: 0

    Reports show that Honda Motor Co. has raised its expectations for its annual profit figures despite its enormous fall last year. Clearly, Japanese car company’s latest figures exceed great expectations from the market, zoning in on various U.S. markets to meet these new figures.

    During the last quarter of year 2010, Honda Motors Co. has reported a staggering 29 percent fall at only $1.5 billion. Its previous reported yearly earnings were somewhere around 177 billion yen with an average of about 110 billion yen. According to Reuters, the figures were studied by seven financial analysts.

    Competitor Nissan Motor Co. ran past Honda Motors Co. The latter ranked as the third largest car company in Japan in 2010. Today, Honda raised its operations profit expectations from 500 billion yen to 620 billion yen in its March 31 time table. Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S’s team of analysts made a forecast that Honda would reap in profits of around 594 billion yen. Therefore, the car company raised their net profit forecasts from 500 billion yen to 530 billion yen.

    Amazingly, Honda’s expected profits in the span of nine months have exceeded the figures outlook for an entire year.

    Due to the price hike for raw materials and the end of financial support for eco-friendly brand models, it is expected that Japanese car companies would report a painful downfall in the figures of its last quarter profits. Despite these forecasts, these companies have already taken deliberate actions in terms of cost-cutting and efficiency in manufacturing process and activities to counter these incoming challenges in the automobile industry.

    Tags: , , ,

  • Honda’s Cheapest Hybrid at US$18,600

    01Oct
    Categories: Hybrid Comments: 0

    News from the Land of the Rising Sun:  The Mainichi Shimbun and Shimbun newspapers in Japan state that Honda Motor Co. gave their new hybrid car with low, low price tag of only ¥1.59 million (that’s roughly US$18,600), which makes it the cheapest hybrid vehicle in Japan.  Soon, the new Honda Fit Hybrid might just be the most affordable gasoline-electric car in the United States and the world.

    The US$18,600 price tag is still as staggering $3,500 lower when compared with the Honda Insight, the present cheapest hybrid in the market today.  It is also $4,600 lower compared to the conventional gasoline-chugging Fit.  While Japan’s market price does not always coincide with the US, Honda Fit Hybrid’s manufacturer’s suggested retail price might land somewhere around $17,000.

    The Honda Fit Hybrid will carry an electric motor and a 1.3-liter engine. It is expected to achieve 70.6 mpg US, 3.3 L/100km with the fuel economy of 30 kilometers per liter.  However, the Fit Hybrid’s title of being the cheapest hybrid vehicle is challenged by Toyota’s plan to debut its compact hybrid in 2011.  Toyota’s hybrid will have the

    price tag of around ¥1.5 million (that’s $17,554) and is expected to reach 40 kilometers per liter and 94 mpg US, 2.5 L/100km.  According to analysts, the release of these two hybrid vehicles will improve the competition in the sales of eco-friendly vehicles between the two Japanese automobile giants.

    Honda’s new Fit hybrid will make its debut in the Paris Auto Show this fall season and will be released sometime in 2011.

    Tags: , , , ,

Meta:

Recent Posts