3G Honda City (Previous Gen) and 2G Honda Jazz Recall Notice

Honda Malaysia calls for Product Update for

City (2009YM) and Jazz (2009 & 2010YM)

Current selling models are not affected

Petaling Jaya, 17 February 2011 – Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Honda Malaysia or the Company) announced that the Company will recall 21,956 units of 3rd Generation City 2009 Year Model (YM) and 1,680 units of 2nd Generation Jazz 2009 & 2010 YM to replace the lost motion springs and the retainers for all vehicles with countermeasure parts. Lost motion springs, which are compressed by rocker arms in normal engine use, may bend or break over time resulting in irregular engine noise and potentially causing engine stalls.

No crashes or injuries have been reported related to this issue.

Artist Impression : 3Gen Honda Fit/Jazz

Launched back in June 2001, the Honda Fit/Jazz was a brand new model in Honda's line-up. It was a runaway success, achieving the then unheard of task of outselling Toyota's Corolla in the JDM. After a hugely successful run, the new 2 Generation Fit/Jazz was launched in October 2007. This one again was a big success in the JDM and many other parts of the world (though not so in ASEAN).

The Honda Fit/Jazz was one of the first to adopt Honda's new 6-years model life-span, back when 4 years was standard and 5 years was just starting to become common for Honda models. With the current 2nd gen Fit/Jazz, this 6 years life cycle should continue. This means that the new 3rd gen Fit/Jazz should become available at the end of 2013. That's still a good 2-3 years away.

Or is it ?

Japanese car-scoop magazines like Mag-X and web-portals like Autoten.com are already publishing artist impressions of how the next generation Honda Fit/Jazz will look like. They are even making predictions on engines and body dimensions. Autoten for e.g. is partially quoting Mag-X and is predicting that Honda will continue with the 1.2/1.3l and 1.5l engines but will increase the hybrid engine to 1.5l in displacement. Also they claim a diesel option is being considered for some markets. Size apparently is supposed to be largely unchanged, with LWH at 3925mm x 1695mm x 1520mm.

For the full article, follow the link below:
AUTOTEN.COM 3G Fit Article.

Source : AUTOTEN.COM, MAG-X (Japan)

Honda to resume development of the new 'NSX'

The biggest news to Honda enthusiasts over the past week has been reports coming from Japan-based web portals that Ito-san, CEO of Honda Motor Co. Ltd., has officially confirmed that Honda has resumed development work on their next super-car, what some many Honda fans have been calling the 'new NSX'. Two of the more widely read sources are below

Yahoo Japan (in japanese)

Asahi.com

As far as I know, this is indeed true - that Honda has resumed development of their new supercar. However, it is important to note that it is development and many important decisions are yet to be made.

It is still not confirmed yet if the original design was adopted for this development. In fact other than the widely known fact that Ito-san has officially confirmed the re-start of development, no other details are available and it is highly likely that all other details published in all media sites are just assumptions and nothing else.

Honda's new supercar was under development until the financial crisis hit the U.S. and Europe back in 2008/2009. Development of that car was then officially suspended (not cancelled), along with other movess like Honda's sudden decision to abandon the Formula-1 championship. That design was a V10 supercar with around 400-500hp. It was an FR and was a 2+2 seater in configuration, designed to take on Nissan's R35 Skylne GT-R. After the suspension, it was then re-developed into the HSV-010 GT race car that won Honda the double championship title in SUPER GT last year (drivers and team titles by the No. 18 WEIDER HSV).

Note also that ASAHI.COM also quoted Ito-san as saying that there are two type of sports-car, affordable and high-performance and that he hopes Honda can market both. However, it is probably wise to just treat this as an expression of his wish instead of anything else.

Source : confidential

Honda 2011 Motorsports Overview

February 4, 2011 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the key features of its 2011 motorsports program, including its motorsports strategy and initiatives for expanding the popularity of motorsports.

1. Motorsports Strategy
In its motorsports activities, the symbol of Honda's challenging spirit, the company has aimed for the world's top level from the days of its founding and taken on challenges in a variety of racing categories. With the know-how and enhanced challenging spirit cultivated through its motorsports activities, Honda will continue developing activities that meet more customers' expectations and bring joy to customers in each racing category.

CNY SPECIAL FOR TOVA SUPPORTERS : Info for new Civic for Asia

TOVA wishes a very happy Chinese New Year to all our supporters and readers.



As our appreciation of your continued support, as some sort of a 'present' for the new year, in this post, we present some of the information we have heard about the new 9Generation Honda Civic.



The new 9Generation Civic will be launched in the U.S. very soon, within the next two to three months. But what about those of us here in Asia/ASEAN ? Here are some of the numerous information I have learned about the new 9Gen Civic, info which I feel I can share with you without compromising my information source.

Honda Fit/Jazz best seller in Japan for January 2011

After 20 straight months as the best selling vehicle in the JDM, the Toyota Prius was knocked off its pedestal and once again it was the might Honda Fit (Jazz) who did this. Last holding this spot in December 2007, sales of Honda Fit rised up to 15,000 units in January 2011, an increase of 10%. At the same time, the expiry of the japanese government's incentive for green cars in September last year saw sales of the Toyota Prius steadily falling, and finally down to only 14,000 units, a decrease of 40% (apparently based on month on month comparisons). According to the Japan Times web portal, the Prius apparently lost some of its potential buyers to it's own smaller brother, Toyota's all-new, fuel-efficient Vitz subcompact, which hit the market in December. Meanwhile, the launch of the Honda Fit Hybrid, now the most affordable hybrid car in the JDM also played a part in this 'victory'.

With Toyota's stranglehold in the JDM, challenging for the top selling spots has always been an achievement. That the Honda Fit managed to do this, eventhough only rarely, speaks much for the superb excellence of this already legendary model from Honda.

Source : The Japan Times news portal (http://www.japantimes.co.jp)