Civic loses best seller status in the U.S.

One victory but also one defeat. 

In the U.S., the Honda Civic has dissappointly lost its best seller status to the Toyota Prius for last year (2012), totalling 57,124 units sold compared to 60,688 units sold for the Prius. This despite an early MMC to address the concerns from media and long time Honda fans. While many and even Honda themselves have been harping on the original 9G (i.e. pre MMC) Civic being best seller in response to criticisms of the interior and other items, the early MMC was very well received so personally the loss of the best seller status for 2012 was a big surprise and dissappointment to me. 

In third place comes the Toyota Camry, with 50,250 total units sold in 2012 which is again a dissappointment to me as I had expected/was hoping that the new Accord would have helped Honda take this spot. 

Nevertheless, all is not lost as Honda seems to have acquired a greater urgency and a better appreciation and response to the opinions of Honda supporters of late so hopefully things improves this year.

Honda Malaysia (Sales and Marketing) moved office

Honda Malaysia's sales and marketing division has shifted from their old office to CP Tower along the Sprint Highway.

'Why Proton ?'

This was the question I had for Honda Malaysia in an informal chit chat recently. The announcement of the Honda-Proton 'collaboration' recently had caused a lot of talk and debate in the Honda enthusiast circle. The main question was why of all partners, Honda chose Proton.

In the first place, I was told that what was announced, as far as Honda's side is concerned, is an agreement to do a feasibility study for joint developments in the future. As far as Honda is concerned, this was the only thing that was committed. So despite what may be read from the announcements, the feasibility study is what will happen but beyond that, nothing has been agreed upon. For all we know, what comes out of the study may well be an echo of that famous song let's call the whole thing off !

As for my guess that a 'Proton Brio' might well be in the works, the response was that Proton's Tanjung Malim plant is an interesting prospect for something in the future. Brio ? There was a smile and a look which suggests "well, what do you think ?"

Automotive Industry Timeline for Malaysia

Malaysian automotive stalwart Nick Gomez has published a "Malaysian Automotive Industry Timeline" on his facebook. This article looks at the evolution of the automobile industry in Malaysia, starting from 1926 when the Ford Motor company first set up office in Singapore to supply Malaysia as well. This quickly evolved into the vibrant automotive industry of both countries today. Nick's work can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/notes/nicholas-gomez/malaysian-automotive-industry-timeline/10151368147943714 and contains a wealth of information especially for those interested to know the past and current state of the automotive industry in Malaysia.

Civic finished WTCC debut season with a podium !

Today saw the final rounds of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), taking place on the Guia Circuit in downtown Macau. The mission for Honda Racing Team JAS was to bring the Civic WTCC's great performance from qualifying into race day. And despite the cloudy sky, the omens looked good from the early morning warm up session, with the Civic WTCC setting the second fastest time (2:31.844).

Honda to collaborate with Proton in Malaysia

In a news that quite shocked long time Honda fans, Proton announced today that they have signed a partnership with Honda to jointly develop cars for the Malaysian market. Leaving aside the general sentiments, what I believe is happening is that both parties saw in each other the means to achieve their own objectives. 

Firstly, in his mid-year speech last month, Honda CEO Ito-san has announced that Honda plans to focus on the mini-car Brio for this region, developing multiple variants off it. The Brio sedan has already been sneaking out in the Honda Thailand website. Next to come is supposedly an SUV based on the Brio. However, having been eye-ing the Malaysian mini-car market for a long time now, Honda is well aware that policies from the relevant authorities are not conducive to any non-Malaysian manufacturers trying to enter into this lucrative market. The annual sales of mini-car in Malaysia is several hundred thousand and for foreign manufacturers like Honda, whose annual sales of 50,000 units is already considered an 'incredible achievement', the mini-car segment is attractive indeed, especially given Honda's recent heavy focus on just sales numbers. 

Civic WTCC finishes its first race

Civic WTCC finishes Races 1 and 2 in 9th and 10th respectively

in its first appearance

Today, Rounds 19 and 20 of the WTCC took place under a clear sky at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, Japan.

HONDA MALAYSIA UNVEILS THE CR-V “LIMITED”

HONDA MALAYSIA UNVEILS THE CR-V “LIMITED”

Petaling Jaya, 18 October 2012 – Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. today unveiled the Honda CR-V “Limited” that sports an enhanced rugged exterior and a classy interior that aims to provide enhanced premium comfort to passengers. Having won numerous awards, the popular Honda CR-V retains its desired features of practicality, spaciousness, attractive design and fuel economy.

New Civic Type-R to have 280hp and challenges the Renault Megane RS

The U.K. website 'autoblog.com' has published a 'scoop' derived from their conversation with the Honda U.K. M.D. Dave Hodgetts about the forthcoming new Civic Type-R. Autoblog.com quotes Hodgetts as saying amongst other thing:

"The new Civic Type R will be a total reflection of the fact it used to be an icon and will have really, really high performance,"

"There is an understanding at Honda that the last one wasn't up to the level expected. We really need an iconic halo car and the new one will be the genuine article."

Autoblog.com quotes Hodgetts as saying the new Civic Type R will hark back to the success of the Integra Type R models with high performance at its heart.

"Power output will be around 280bhp – it's a proper car,"

 and most interestingly,

"Honda want it to be the fastest front-wheel drive car around the Nurburgring so it will be up against the Megane RS. That's a challenge, but it will be a genuine sports product harking back to the good old days."

Looks to be interesting times three or even two years into the future as the new Civic Type-R starts testing in the Nurburgring and Honda fans can see if Honda will be able to back up this claim. 

the link to the autoblog.com 'scoop' is http://uk.autoblog.com/2012/10/02/exclusive-uk-built-civic-type-r-will-be-an-icon/

Tenaga Setia Resource, Honda's 4S dealer shifts to new premises

TENAGA SETIA RESOURCES SDN. BHD. INVESTS RM28.5 MILLION TO RELOCATE AND UPGRADE HONDA DEALERSHIP TO 4S CENTRE

Tenaga Setia has been a Honda 3S center for many years and was located along Jalan 222 Petaling Jaya. After investing RM28.5 million building a new premise, they shifted over last Friday (Sept 28th) and at the same time, also upgraded themselves into a 4S centre. The new premise is now located at section 51 which in actually just a short distance (less than 1km) from the original site. This new premise is a newly constructed building located on a prime piece of land which belongs to Tenaga Setia themselves.

Honda Malaysia sales breakdown of hybrid models

As one of the countries which have a very good selection of IMA hybrid models and a tax exemption for hybrids, sales of IMA hybrids here has been very good. The breakdown for year to date (YTD) sales of hybrids by Honda Malaysia, as at August and for the year 2012 are approximately as follows:

Official Press Release : Honda EV-STER EV concept car

Also on display at the Paris Motor Show is the EV-STER EV convertible that Honda showed at the last Tokyo Motor Show. This time Honda provided a little bit of specification; battery max power 58kW or 79ps, top speed (160kph or 100mph), charging time, and even acceleration figure. However, before you get too excited or impressed by the time given, do note that it is for the 0-60kph and not mph. 60kph is approximately 37.5mph. To give you an idea, the 1.3l Honda Jazz/Fit Hybrid with the 100ps IMA engine takes around this time to hit 60kph as well and it's a mid-10 seconds car for the 0-60mph run. 

The official Honda press release follows.

Official launch : Euro Civic 1.6l turbo diesel

civic 1.6l i-dtec

1.6 i-DTEC on Civic achieves CO₂ emissions of just 94 g/km*

Shown for the first time at Paris Motor Show, Honda has introduced a new 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine in the Civic hatchback. The first engine in Europe to feature Honda’s Earth Dreams Technology series, it combines strong performance (120 PS) with CO₂ emissions of only 94 g/km*.

Official Launch : Euro Honda CR-V

Honda has officially launched the new 4th Gen CR-V for Europe. Powerplants options are a 2.0 i-VTEC (R20A), and two diesel engines - the existing 2.2l i-DTEC and a new 1.6l i-DTEC in a new FWD variant. The rear seats also fold down to create a flat floor now. The official Honda of Europe press release follows.

The new cr-v

Efficient, functional and confident

The new fourth generation CR-V makes its European debut at the Paris Motor Show 2012. Building on its success of its predecessors, the new CR-V has improved quality, practicality and refinement. For the first time in Europe, the compact SUV will be offered with a choice of both two- and four-wheel drive, while improvements to both the petrol and diesel engines have resulted in a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions. Comprehensively redesigned for the European market, the new CR-V will be built at Honda’s production facility in Swindon, UK from early September, 2012.

Official Honda Press Release for Paris Motor Show

Honda at the Paris Motor show

Honda reveals the new European CR-V at the Paris Motor Show 2012 with the announcement that the new CR-V will be offered with Honda’s new 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine. The new smaller diesel engine is the first in a series of engines to be introduced in Europe under the name of Earth Dreams Technology. The 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine will be available on the Civic later this year and the CR-V from September 2013 with production at Honda’s UK factory in Swindon.

CR-Z MMC makes surprise appearance in Indonesia Motor Show

Eventhough Honda officially announced the debut of the CR-Z MMC for the Paris Motor Show on the 29th of this month, in a surprise move, the popular Malaysian car blog paultan.org reports from the Indonesia Motor Show of the display of an unit of the 'new' CR-Z MMC. Reports from paultan.org confirms the exterior changes to the CR-Z but the interior could not be checked out because the display car was locked. Official information from Honda Indonesia states a max power of 120ps for the MMC LEA engine and 20ps for the LiOn IMA electric motor with combined max power of 136ps for the 6MT version and 135ps for the CVT version. Max power point is at 6,600rpm and redline is 6,800rpm. These figures virtually confirms the scoop info that we saw last week. 

Meanwhile, official Honda publications like the Honda world site at world.honda.com is still announcing the 'world debut' of the CR-Z MMC at the Paris Motor Show.

Summary of CEO Speech on September 21, 2012

• In 2010, I set Honda's "Direction for the next 10 years" which is "to provide good products to our customers with speed, affordability and low CO₂ emissions." Since then, we have been devoting our full efforts in leveraging Honda's unique technologies, ideas and ingenuity to create attractive products that please our customers who purchased such products. In addition, as a manufacturer of personal mobility products, we have been proactively executing various initiatives which contribute to a significant reduction of CO₂ emissions.

New Civic variant and Civic Type-R for Europe

For this coming Paris motorshow which will be held on the 27th of this month, Honda has officially announced the debut of the new diesel variant of the 9Gen Civic. This variant will get a 1.6l i-DTEC diesel engine rated for a max power of 120ps/hp. Honda also announced that the CO2 emission will be only 94 g/km and that the Civic i-DTEC will deliver a combined consumption of 78.5mpg (according to Euro standards).

Prior to this Honda press release, the European motoring press has been widely announcing that a new 9Gen Civic Type-R  will be debuted this motor show. This new Euro-CTR was announced to be getting the 1.6 turbo-charged RSeries engine which Honda is using in the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) Civic which was just launched. However, it is clear that the motoring press are mistaken.

A suggestion from someone with contacts inside Honda is that the European motoring press has mistaken Honda's information, thinking that Honda is talking about the new Euro CTR whereas they had been talking about the WTCC Civic instead.

Nevertheless, the same person has informed TOV/TOVA that the Euro CTR is in fact real, and that Honda of Europe is still pushing to launch it in the time frame of the new few months. This new Euro CTR will come in the form of a 5-door hatch and will have a 2.0l K-Series engine with a 7,500rpm redline and a max power rating of 220ps/hp.

The British market is credited as the primary driver for the return of the Euro Civic Type-R and this car will be built in Honda's Swindon plant in England.

The photo above is the new Civic 1.6i-DTEC and is supplied by Honda of Europe.

Paris Motor Show

The Paris motor show will be held on the 27th of September (i.e., this month at the time of this post). The show promises the debut of a few cars of interest to Honda enthusiasts. Top of the list will be the CR-Z MMC, also called the '2013 CR-Z'. This MMC promises some minor, yet very important updates to the CR-Z which has been getting some very good, yet also some negative reception. The new 4Gen CR-V which has already been launched to great success in the U.S. will debut in this show as well. And finally, but not least, the new diesel Civic with a 1.6l i-DTEC engine will also debut in this show. The official press release from Honda of Europe follows.

We also have a little bit of extra details on the CR-Z MMC and the Civic which we will be publishing on different posts afterwards.

Honda CR-Z scores first result podium in Super GT

The Honda CR-Z has scored its first podium in the Super GT championship, with a P3 in this weekend's race at the Fuji circuit.

Racing under 'Team Mugen' as car number 16 in the GT300 class, the Honda CR-Z is now in position 15 in the team's ranking table and position 13 in the driver's ranking table. 

Note that the CR-Z only entered this year's season from round 4 onwards on July at the Sugo circuit. Currently the drivers are Hideki Mutoh and Daisuke Nakajima and the car is officially the Mugen CR-Z GT.

For those who are wondering, this CR-Z does not use the 1.5l LEA IMA hybrid engine. According to information on supergt.net, it is powered by a J35A 3.5l V6 engine delivering circa 300ps.