New Honda Civic BTCC Race Car Starts Testing

The Honda Racing Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will begin putting the new Civic hatch designated Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) through its first trials in public today at the famous Brands Hatch. At the wheel will be Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden and triple-BTCC champion Matt Neal, getting a feel for the car ahead of the season’s start on April 1st.

“This is the first opportunity we have had to get behind the wheel to really see what the car has got. The team are really pleased with the results from the test at MIRA last week and I can’t wait to finally start putting the car through its paces,” says driver Matt Neal. “It will be interesting to see how the car performs, but I’m optimistic that we’ll walk away from today confident we have a championship winning car.”

“The feedback on the new Civic NGTC car so far is incredibly promising and I’ve been itching to get into the car since the end of the 2011 season. Like Matt mentioned, this is the first time we have had to really push the car and I’m looking forward to putting it into action,” adds Gordon Shedden.

Source;
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/new-honda-civic-btcc-race-car-starts-testing-42810.html

Honda moves up to this fall major changes to the Civic

Honda will bring out a significant mid-cycle change to its embattled Civic compact this fall, just 18 months after it launched, a high-ranking executive told dealers here.

The move is a rush to improve the Civic in time for the 2013 model year. The Civic's cheapened interior and other reductions in content got a critical reviews from The Wall Street Journal, and Consumer Reports removed the model from its recommended list.

John Mendel, executive vice president at American Honda Motor Co., previously had said Honda hoped to get a midcycle freshening for the Civic sometime in 2013. More recently, Honda executives said they hoped a change could come by the end of 2012.

Even that would have been a feat, since most automakers wait three years into a five-year cycle for a midcycle change.

Most midcycle changes involve minor changes to the front and rear fascias and some minor interior updates. A dealer source said changes to the 2013 model year version would be more significant than that.

This latest announcement confirms that the substantially revised Civic will arrive at about the same time as a redesigned Accord. The Civic still is in the fight for the title of best-selling compact car, despite the bad reviews and inventory shortages related to the Japan earthquake in March and then floods in Thailand.

Source;
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120206/CARNEWS/120209930#ixzz1lcCBwJN7

Honda President Commits to “Distinctive” and “Sporty” Vehicles

After having taken quite a beating with reviews of the new Civic, Honda has been on the offensive, promising updates while announcing its new “Earth Dreams Technology” plan to reestablish itself as a fuel economy leader. With the debut of the EV-STER electric sports car concept and confirmation that a new NSX is on the horizon, company president Takanobu Ito is now going a step further, while explaining the faults of the past.

In an interview with the The Nikkei, he explains Honda’s old product planning method. “We divided the world into six regions, and Honda’s regional operations were each responsible for their respective regions. Whenever we planned a product for the global market, our thinking was that we needed to listen to each regional supervisor.”

The result, says Ito, was a lowest-common-denominator approach to building a car, watering down all the characteristics of a vehicle to the greatest mass-market appeal. The problem admits Ito is that, “When you harmonize all the different opinions, you end up with a safe, boring car.”
Under the old method of doing business, the vehicle development team was essentially taking the designed-by-committee idea and building a car around it.

Ito says that since he took over in April of last year, changed the system. “I had three corporate officers each supervise luxury, midsize and small vehicles,” he said. “Putting more authority in their hands, I asked them to create more competitive autos and to speed up coordination with product planning and regional operations. I set up a structure that would allow them to take the lead in realizing the wishes of the development team. The fruits of these moves will begin to appear in the market next fiscal year.”

Exactly what those fruits are, says Ito, will be cars that are environmentally friendly and safe, but also ones that are “highly distinctive”. Honda, after all, has a long history of unique vehicles from the NSX, S2000, CRX and del Sol. But perhaps most importantly, he says, “This strategy will be represented by our effort to make vehicles more sporty.”

The first true example of this plan will be evident when Honda unveils the next-generation NSX at the Detroit Auto Show next week.

Source;
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/01/honda-president-commits-to-distinctive-and-sporty-vehicles.html

Updated 2013 Honda Civic Coming Late Next Year, Company Says it Expects to Improve Sales

With less than two weeks to go before the year’s end, we can safely say that one of the biggest disappointments of 2011 was the ninth generation of Honda’s U.S.-market Civic. Launched in April as a 2012 year model, the new Civic was criticized for its drop in quality and was even removed from Consumer Reports’ “Recommended” list.

Honda Motor CEO Takanobu Ito took personal responsibility for the new Civic's poor performance. And now, the company's executives confirm earlier reports that Honda is rushing back to the drawing board much earlier than originally anticipated.

Honda U.S. executive vice president of sales John Mendel may claim that “building a good car isn’t good enough for us, we have to build a great car”, but we suspect that the 13 percent drop in sales to 200,690 units in 2011, is probably the reason why the Civic is getting ready for a redesign only a year after launch.

Tetsuo Iwamura, Honda’s top North American executive, told Bloomberg News that the 2013MY Civic will go on sale by late next year and that it will be “upgraded”. That was to be expected, as the Civic is Honda’s second best-selling car in the U.S. after the Accord.

Iwamura admitted that “the gap between the Civic and the competitors has been narrowed”, adding that “we have to make it wider”. Thus, he revealed that the Japanese carmaker will improve the styling, driving dynamics and comfort of the 2013 MY Civic.

The performance of such a critical model only added insult to injury for Honda, as the March earthquake that hit Japan seriously diminished its inventory and resulted in a 5.3 percent drop in the company's U.S. sales through November.

Despite this year’s performance, Japan’s third biggest carmaker has set quite a high target for next year: it wants its U.S. sales to increase from about 1 million units in 2011 to 1.25 million, and its luxury brand Acura to improve its record even more, from 126,000 to 180,000 deliveries.

“It looks like quite a high jump, but because of the availability problem we had a really low year in 2011”, Iwamura told Bloomberg. “That is the reason why growth looks huge, but for us, it’s a natural growth.”

Source;
http://www.carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/12/updated-2013-honda-civic-coming-late.html

Honda: Let's try that again

HONDA is working flat-out on improvements to its all-new Civic after a lacklustre start to the car's life.
The latest model of the Japanese compact has been criticised for its lack of innovation and quality. For the first time, it has been struck from the list of recommended models in the influential Consumer Guide in the US.
The new Civic sedan arrives here towards the middle of next year, with the five-door hatch to follow, as global head of Honda, Takanobu Ito, promises significant upgrades to counter the criticism.
"We will continue to make improvements on a daily basis," Ito says.
He takes responsibility for the car's shortcomings and admits Honda underestimated its opposition, as well as the level of improvement needed over the outgoing model.
"I believe that the ultimate responsibility for the Civic rests with me," Ito says.
"Right now we are trying to work out the best actions possible in response.
"We might have underestimated the competition to a certain extent."In Honda's defence, Ito says he believes the previous-generation Civic was well ahead of its rivals and that might have led to decisions that did not push hard enough on the new car.
"The previous Civic was something of a major surprise to the world, it was extremely advanced, and therefore the concept for this current Civic was trying to carry over the concept.
"We look at the history of the Civic model. We are constantly aiming towards more advanced features and carrying out development of the new Civic."
He admits Honda has been stung by the poor reception for the car.
"In this situation it is true that we lacked the capability to understand beforehand that such reactions might have come about. We should have studied these things more carefully."
He believes Honda's effort with the previous Civic also spurred rivals to develop the cars that are now making things tough for the maker and the model.

Source;
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/honda-lets-try-that-again/story-fn9y0ah4-1226217398926

Honda Prays for Disaster-Free U.S. Rebound Led by New Models

By Alan Ohnsman
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. says replenished vehicle inventory and new Honda and Acura models planned for the next 24 months will spur a U.S. sales rebound next year after natural disasters dashed its 2011 goals.

Honda’s loss of some North American output in October and November due to parts shortages caused by floods in Thailand led to it being the only large automaker to post a U.S. sales decline last month as total sales jumped 14 percent. That came after six months of declines resulting from reduced auto inventory triggered by Japan’s March earthquake and tsunami.

“I’m going to the shrine to pray to avoid any more such disasters from Mother Nature,” Tetsuo Iwamura, Honda’s top North American executive, said in an interview on Dec. 2 in Las Vegas. “Next year, even starting this month, we’ll recover.”

Japan’s third-largest automaker counts on the U.S. for the largest portion of its global sales. Tight inventory and competition from Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. and others cut Tokyo-based Honda’s U.S. sales 5.3 percent through November.

While Honda’s market share has fallen to 9 percent from 10.5 percent so far in 2011, combined share for South Korean affiliates Hyundai and Kia rose to 9 percent from 7.8 percent a year ago.

“It is a year to forget, and then push the reset button,” said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with researcher IHS Automotive. “We’re now seeing heavy replacement demand, so there is a lot of sales opportunity out there.”

IHS Automotive estimates U.S. sales of new cars and trucks will rise to about 13.7 million units in 2012, from about 12.7 million this year, she said.

‘Outrageous’ Competition

“The competition is outrageous and it’s coming from every part of the market,” Lindland said. “Every year we say this is an incredibly competitive market, but this year we mean it.”

Honda’s immediate goal is to boost production of its new Civic compact and CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle that goes on sale this month, Iwamura said. The company starts December with about a 40-day supply of vehicles, he said.

“Unfortunately, our competitors didn’t show us any mercy,” Iwamura said. “They took as much market share from us as they could. That’s the reality of the market. You have to fight back.”

In 2012, the company releases a revamped Accord, Honda’s top-selling U.S. nameplate, and other models Iwamura declined to identify. “Fortunately, we are going to have lots more models in the next 24 months,” he said.

New Engines, Hybrids

Vehicles coming out next year will also begin powered by new four- and six-cylinder engines and transmissions Honda unveiled last week at the Tokyo Motor Show, claiming they will lead the industry in fuel efficiency.

The company also will add new hybrid models from next year that will boost its reputation for fuel-efficiency and advanced technology, he said.

“New models with good technology, yet very value-oriented pricing for the sake of competitiveness,” said Iwamura, 60. “That is our key for a successful year in 2012 and onwards.”

Sales of the new Civic, released this year, will continue to increase and haven’t really been hurt by some critical reviews, he said.

“In November, Civic was the number one selling compact vehicle,” Iwamura said. “Customers still believe in the Civic.”

The 2012 Civic failed to receive the “recommended” status from Consumer Reports magazine. The revamped model “ranks near the bottom of its category,” David Champion, senior director of the magazine’s auto test center, said in an Aug. 1 e-mailed statement.

Honda’s U.S. headquarters are based in Torrance, California. The company’s American depositary receipts rose 0.3 percent to $31.59 at 9:35 a.m. New York time.

Source;
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-05/honda-prays-for-disaster-free-u-s-rebound-led-by-new-models.html