Honda Starts Production of New European Civic Hatch at Swindon Plant

Honda revealed today the it has begun rolling out the new Civic at its UK plant in Swindon, which returned to its normal production rates after a disruption due to lack of parts caused by the Thai floods. Read more »

Honda EV-STER Concept to Spawn a Production Model

It looks like the retro-styled N Concept 4 city car won't be the only Honda study displayed at this month's Tokyo Motor Show that will end up going into production as the Japanese carmaker's CEO Takanobu Ito told German magazine Auto Motor und Sport that the open-top EV-STER has also received the green light.

The Honda boss revealed that the battery-powered, rear-wheel drive roadster could arrive in the market as early as 2012, adding that the company may also introduce more conventional version with a classic gasoline engine, without offering any more details.

However, it's only reasonable to assume that the gasoline model would be a hybrid matching an internal combustion engine with an electric motor.

At 3,570mm (140.5-in.) long, 1,500mm (59.0-in.) wide and 1,100mm (43.3-in.) tall, with a wheelbase of 2,325mm (92.5-in.), the tiny concept is marginally larger than Honda's 1990s mid-engined kei car, the Beat.

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All-New 2012 Honda CR-V Priced from $23,105 in the States

If the brand-new 2012 Honda CR-V is on your buying list, you'll be happy to know that the Japanese carmaker has just announced pricing as the crossover model arrived in dealerships across the country today.

Prices for the 2012 CR-V range from $22,295 for the entry-level LX 2WD model to $29,795 for the range-topping EX-L AWD with a navigation package, not including a destination and handling charge of $810 per vehicle, which lifts prices to $23,105 and $30,605 respectively.

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Hot Honda CR-Z Type R Speculatively Rendered

We don't know if the rumors circulating around the net about a Type-R version of Honda's CR-Z hybrid sports coupe are true or not, but nevertheless, Daniel Youn from PS-Garage wanted to render what the car may look like if Honda ever decided to build such a model.

Daniel used the Honda Performance Development (or HPD for short) CR-Z Hybrid R concept from last year's SEMA aftermarket show as a base to build his rendered vision of the CR-Z Type R.

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Acura CSX: Canada's Posh Honda Civic Sedan

As some of you readers rightly pointed out in our post on the upcoming 2013 Acura ILX compact sedan, the TSX is not Acura's cheapest offering in North America. This dazzling title goes to the Canadian market CSX.

It doesn't take much to see that the CSX and the previous, eighth generation of the Honda Civic sedan are one and alike minus some discreet styling changes at the front and at the rear, and a more posh interior with all the extras ticked.

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New Acura ILX Compact Sedan to be Built at Honda's Plant in Indiana, will Start Well Under $30,000

[Honda Indiana Plant pictured above]

While Acura is still holding back on the photos of its newly announced ILX concept study that will be displayed at the Detroit Show in January, Honda's premium division revealed that the production version of the compact sedan that will follow would be built at the firm's Manufacturing of Indiana LLC (HMIN).

"Building this all-new Acura vehicle as the exclusive global source is a big responsibility for our associates," said HMIN President Jun Nishimoto. "I am very proud of what our Indiana team has accomplished in such a short time, and we have great confidence in our ability to produce a world-class luxury vehicle that exceeds the expectations of Acura customers."

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1999 Honda Civic Coupe "Converted to a 2011 BMW M3"

We know what some of you may be thinking upon viewing the pictures, and to answer your first question, no, this is not Acura's upcoming ILX luxury compact model that is slated to debut in Detroit in January. Instead, it's one of those bizarre creations we occasionally find over at the crazy world of Craigslist.

Much like the Saab 900S Convertible turned into a Cadillac of some sorts that we showed you last week, this 1999 Honda Civic Coupe is supposed to resemble a BMW.

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Honda to Reveal New Accord Coupe Concept at the Detroit Motor Show

Honda announced on Monday that it is planning the world premiere of an all-new Accord Coupe concept study at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, which takes place in Detroit from January 10 to 23.

The Japanese automaker noted that the study would preview the styling direction of the next-generation Accord that will be sold in North American in both four-door sedan and two-door coupe body styles.

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Honda to Introduce New Hybrid Variant of Accord Sedan Next Year

[JDM Honda Accord pictured above]

There's plenty of news coming out from the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show and a lot of them concern Honda's future plans.

Along with the Acura-badged NSX hybrid concept that's heading to Detroit, we also learned that Honda is preparing a raft of hybrid powertrains for its mainstream models.

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Honda CEO Takes Personal Responsibility for Underwhelming U.S. Civic

As you may already know, even though they share the same name, the European and North American Honda Civics are two very different cars.

This is good news for Honda’s European arm, since the Frankfurt Motor Show-launched five-door hatch received a warm welcome, but bad news for their colleagues in North America who have faced a barrage of criticism.

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NATS Turns First-Gen Honda Insight into the EV-Sports Prototype01

The students over at Nihon Automobile College [NATS] in Japan have churned out some pretty bizarre creations over the years ranging from a Honda Beat dressed in an NSX suite to a high-ridding Volkswagen pickup truck.

At this year's Tokyo Motor Show, NATS displayed the EV-Sports Prototype01 that is based on the first generation of the Honda Insight hybrid.

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New Honda NSX Concept Reportedly Coming to Detroit Show, May get 3.5L V6 Hybrid Powertrain

When Honda CEO Takanobu Ito confirmed the NSX replacement, it made sense that the new sports car would be revealed at the Japanese company's home turf. However, Honda displayed the compact EV-STER concept instead, a small RWD roadster that resembles the 1990’s Beat.

There’s no reason for disappointment though as British publication Autocar is reporting that Honda plans to debut a new concept called 'Super Sports' at the Detroit Motor Show in mid-January.

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Honda to Take on Fiat 500 with N Concept 4, Production Model Coming in Fall of 2012

One of Honda's less publicized world premieres at the 42nd edition of the Tokyo Motor Show could well very turn out to be the most interesting. We're talking about the new N Concept 4 which is a follow up to the EV-N study that was displayed at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

The new N Concept 4 has not only veered closer to production in styling but it will actually go on sale next year. The announcement was made by Sho Minekawa, who is the Managing Officer and CEO for Honda Regional Sales Operations in Japan, during the company's presentation in Tokyo.

"As a part of the N Series, a new model based on N Concept 3 will be introduced to the market in spring 2012, followed by the introduction of another model based on N Concept 4 in fall 2012," said Minekawa. "With that, we will strive to increase our mini-vehicle sales to 280,000 units, which would double the sales of 2011," he added.

The N Concept 4 will be based on the running gear of Honda's new Kei-class N Box tall city car, which also made its world premiere in Tokyo but more on that later.

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Honda AC-X is a Futuristic Study for a Plug-in Hybrid Family Car

Honda is betting heavily on conventional as well as more advanced plug-in hybrid models as the company is planning to increase its 'green' offerings in the very near future.

At the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011, the Japanese brand lifted the wraps off a conceptual proposal for a mid-to-long range plug-in hybrid called the AC-X. The study is much larger than the Insight hybrid measuring 4,700mm long, 1,820mm wide and 1,400mm with a wheelbase of 2,750mm.

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Honda Details New 118HP 1.6-liter Turbo Diesel Engine for Europe

There's another new diesel engine created for the European market, this time from Honda that has just introduced a new 1.6-liter unit. The Japanese automaker's president and CEO, Takanobu Ito, made the announcement today at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The brand new 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder diesel unit joins Honda's revised 2.2-liter i-DTEC diesel, which delivers 150HP. The smaller unit is rated at 118HP (120PS) at 4,000 rpm and has a peak torque of 300Nm (221.3 lb-ft) at 2,000 rpm.

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Tokyo Motor Show: Honda’s New EV-STER Concept is the Beat of the Future

While not the NSX or S2000 replacements that enthusiasts have long been waiting to see, the Japanese firm's EV-STER concept shows that Honda still has some faint traces of sporty genes left in its DNA.

The pure electric roadster model is very compact in size measuring just 3,570mm (140.5-in.) long, 1,500mm (59.0-in.) wide and 1,100mm (43.3-in.) tall, with a wheelbase of 2,325mm (92.5-in.). That makes it slightly bigger than the Beat, Honda's mid-engined, two-seat roadster kei car that was produced from 1991 to 1996.

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Honda UK Confirms Production of Supercharged CR-Z iCF by MUGEN with 173HP and 0-62mph in 6.1"

As we rightfully suspected when Honda revealed the Mugen CR-Z RR Study at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 earlier in the summer, the Japanese carmaker confirmed a production version of its hotted-up hybrid sport hatch that will go on sale in Britain next spring.

And for those of you wondering, unfortunately, Honda has no plans to offer the car in other markets – at least for the time being.

The production model is named CR-Z iCF and it has been developed in partnership with Mugen's European arm. At the heart of the car lies a modified version of the CR-Z's 1.5-liter hybrid powertrain that gains a supercharger, a new induction system and a reprogrammed ECU.

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Honda Launches 2012 CR-V Crossover in Japan, gets 2.0L and 2.4L Engines [50 Photos]

Japanese buyers will be the first to receive the all-new fourth-generation CR-V, as Honda announced today that the 2012 CR-V would go on sale at dealerships across the country on December 2, approximately two week ahead of its U.S. launch that's slated for December 15 and almost a year before it reaches European showrooms next fall.

The new CR-V, which we first saw at the Los Angeles Auto Show earlier this month, will be offered in Japan in two flavors, the 20G and the 24G.

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Honda Wants Dealers to Move “Full Speed Ahead” as N.A. Production Returns to Normal

The recent floods in Thailand added yet another headache to the Japanese car manufacturers’ executives, since many plants were forced to reduce production as parts supplies were severely disrupted for several weeks.

Nevertheless, Honda’s U.S. sales boss John Mendel issued a memo to the brand’s dealers on November 22, in which he instructs them to move “full speed ahead” in terms of sales. Mendel’s memo pointed out that “our product availability is good, our arrivals are good and we will continue to have media presence throughout the month of December.”

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McLaren Denies Rumors about a Honda Engine Deal in 2014

The image of a white and red McLaren, usually with a yellow-green helmet signaling that the man sitting in the cockpit was none other than Ayrton Senna, is one that remains etched in F1 fans’ minds many years after his demise in 1994. Powering the McLaren of the late three-time world champion was a Honda engine.

Last weekend, German magazine Auto Motor und Sport reported that McLaren was in talks with Honda to rekindle their 1988-1992 collaboration, which yielded four constructor championships, from 2014 onwards, when the rules mandate the change to 1.6-liter turbocharged engines.

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