Summary of Results for Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team

Castrol Honda WTCC Civic

On March 20, 2013, Honda announced that Castrol, the  high-performance lubricant brand, would be the title sponsor of its factory team in the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship. 

Along with the sponsorship deal, the team adopted a new name - Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – as well as an exciting green, white and red livery for the Civic WTCC. This brought back fond memories of Honda's previous relationship with Castrol with the Castrol Mugen Accord in 1994 and Castrol NSX JGTC in 2000. Both of the cars are exhibited in the Honda Collection Centre at Twin Ring Motegi.

Honda CR-V 2.4

In the CR-V media drive event, Honda Malaysia confirms that the 4G CR-V 2.4 is on-time for a June launch this year. It is packaged as an upmarket, luxury oriented CR-V and also targeted at those who wants more performance from the CR-V which the current 2.0l version is unable to deliver. Expect full leather interior with hopefully more control over the powerplant to better make use of its greater power, e.g. either a 'Sport' mode or the addition of a sequential shifting option via paddle shifters on the steering wheel. It should be using the same K24 engine that will be put into the new 9G 2.4 Accord when that is launched in the next quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the current 2.0l variant has delighted Honda Malaysia by far exceeding its sales forecast, almost hitting 3,000 orders within a month of its launch. It also set a new record for highest number of bookings received in a month for any new model launch. This confirms the excellence of this world standard setting SUV and the 2.4l variant should improve it.

9G Accord for next quarter launch

Malaysian Honda fans who are waiting for the new 9Gen Honda Accord, it looks like you have to wait a little bit longer as it will not be launched this quarter. It will be a Honda however, and is highly unlikely to be carrying a different badge.

Honda Unveils Civic Tourer Concept at Geneva Motor Show

Honda unveiled the concept of the new Civic Tourer model at the Geneva Motor Show on 5 March, 2013. The concept exemplifies the design themes that Honda has adopted for the current generation of the European Civic. 

Sales in the Japanese Market for February 2013

Source: world.honda.com

Honda is on track to regain the best seller in the mini-vehicle category. 

N BOX was the top selling car in Japan in the mini-vehicle category for the month of February 2013 with sales of 22,354 units. The N BOX was the number two best seller for the year of 2012. For February, the N-ONE was the sixth best-selling car with sales of 10,981 units. 

Meanwhile, Honda's automobile sales for February decrease for the second consecutive month year-on-year (since January 2013). This is in line with the decrease in new vehicle registrations for the seventh consecutive month year-on-year (since August 2012).

3G Fit/Jazz Hybrid info

Someone with 'connections' posted this in our TOV forums about the new 3rd generation Fit (Jazz) that is due to be launched this year, probably at the Tokyo Motor Show or just before. 

The new Fit hybrid will only come with the 1.5L engine(last Fit Hybrid came with 1.3L or 1.5L) and in Japan it will be cheaper than this gen 1.5L Fit hybrid, starting around 1.6 mil yen

Production will start at the new factory in Yorii this July 2013.

Electric motor will be in the 20kw class and the car can run on EV mode only.

It is likely this new 3G Fit/Jazz will feature Honda's much talked about 'Earth Dreams' powerplant (engine+transmission), maybe even the new i-DCD twin-clutch gearbox that Honda boasted about last year. Honda essentially claimed 30% improvement in fuel economy over the existing IMA system in those press releases so if delivered, the new 3G Fit/Jazz may well likely take the world's hybrid market by storm. The photo above is of the current outgoing (2G) Fit/Jazz.

A holiday in Japan...

Things have been quiet here on 'Honda Fan', and for a good reason. I was away for a trip to Japan and only returned late last week. My last trip to Japan was almost exactly 10 years ago, when I went for a part business, part leisure trip partially paid for by VTEC.NET and partially out of my own pocket. That was to cover the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show but I also took the opportunity to visit a friend in Tokyo.

This trip however is purely for pleasure and I elected to attend an organized tour by Apple Vacations, the premier tour agency for holidays in Japan and Korea. The trip was very well organized and extremely enjoyable, a trademark of Apple Vacation holiday tours. My wife and I were taken on an unforgettable tour which included cities like Fukuoka, Kobe, Yokohama, Nagasaki, Osaka, Kyoto and of course Tokyo. Many of the must-visit places were also located on the outskirts and countryside, e.g. the hot springs of Hakone and also the legendary Fujisan (Mount Fuji, the icon of Japan).

Honda to Build New 2014 Accord Hybrid in U.S.

Honda to Build New 2014 Accord Hybrid in U.S. 

On 10 January 2013, Honda announced that the new two-motor Accord Hybrid Sedan, scheduled to go on sale nationwide this fall, will be manufactured at its Marysville, Ohio auto plant.

This will be the third hybrid model built by Honda in America and the first in Ohio. Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC in Greensburg, Ind. was the first Honda plant in North America to build a hybrid vehicle, and currently produces both the Civic Hybrid and Acura ILX Hybrid models.