Tata’s Nano may face stiff competition on its home turf as Japan’s Honda Motor Co. plans to launch a four or five-seat car in early 2010 in the booming Indian market.

Honda Motor Co. President, Mr Takeo Fukui said the Japanese car-maker plans to launch a very small car in Europe as well as emerging countries such as China and India in the early 2010.

“We are developing a small car that would be even smaller than the Fit subcompact,” he told a news conference.

The engine displacement for the four- or five-seat car would be less than 1 litre, against 1.3 litres for the smallest version of the Fit subcompact series, he was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.

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TOKYO — Honda’s chief executive welcomed the U.S. government’s decision to extend loans to American automakers today, but said their problems highlighted their slow response to soaring gas prices.

“It is totally proper for the U.S. government to help out U.S. automakers,” Takeo Fukui told reporters in Tokyo, adding that Honda also relies on the same parts makers in the United States.

Last month, President George W. Bush signed a sprawling, stopgap spending bill, including $25 billion in taxpayer-subsidized loans to the troubled U.S. automakers.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler had lobbied for the government loans, which will help them develop a broader lineup of fuel-efficient models.

Honda Motor Co., whose models are reputed for good mileage, has avoided some of the major sales battering that U.S. rivals have taken as gasoline prices soared.

“Times have changed,” Fukui said. “Their response was too slow.”

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By George Gao  From:Gasgoo.com                                        October 16, 2008

Shanghai, October 16 (Gasgoo.com) A top executive of Dongfeng Honda said that the joint venture has raised its sales target for 2008 from 150,000 units to 160,000 units or more, based on the growing sales of its two models: the CR-V SUV and the Civic sedan, said xinhuanet.com today. The company has decided to develop a new hatchback model for its market growth.

Amid the downturn in the auto market and target-slashing by many carmakers in China, Dongfeng Honda is the first car company that has announced its plan to raise this year’s sales goal. The reason for this dramatically ambitious move lies in the good sales of its CR-V and Civic models. Since the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord were marked down by Guangzhou Toyota and Guangzhou Honda, the CR-V SUV has been the only model that has its priced raised in the market.

Dongfeng Honda has conducted its “hungry marketing” strategy, with its output and supply unable to meet the market demand. “The inventory of Dongfeng Honda is smaller than the sales,” said the company’s executive, adding that the company has plans to develop and make its own-brand hatchback to meet the growing demand and cut the costs.

Because of the high costs, the company has given up the idea of introducing a Honda Civic hatchback, and instead it will develop an own-brand hatchback model on the existing Civic sedan platform of the venture. Another motivation is that a self-developed hatchback, if lower-priced for the customers, will achieve better sales. The lower price is possible if the design and manufacturing costs are not high.

Currently, Dongfeng Honda only makes two models, which are far from enough to boost its sales and growth. Therefore, one of the company’s top priorities is to develop one more model at reasonable costs. The two side of the joint venture have initially agreed on a possible model, which is likely to carry a badge like the Guangzhou Honda’s Linian, or use the Dongfeng label.

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Honda announced that sales in Japan of the all-new Odyssey will begin October 17, 2008. The fully remodeled Odyssey features a low-floor and low center-of-gravity package that enables a low profile roofline and performance beyond ordinary minivans together with a spacious cabin. The new Odyssey is also equipped with advanced safety technologies, including the new Multi-view Camera System. A special mobility-assistive version equipped with a lift-up front passenger seat will go on sale November 13, 2008.

Designed around the concept of emotive quality that will move all who experience it, the new fourth generation Odyssey provides an advanced fusion of the human/machine interface, a liberated feeling for all occupants, and a distinctive presence. So, the all-new Odyssey was developed with the goal of generating strong feelings in every circumstance: riding in it, driving it, and looking at it.

To fulfill customer expectations for excellent fuel economy related to growing awareness of environmental issues, the all-new Odyssey is equipped with a 2.4l DOHC i-VTEC engine and torque converter-equipped CVT*1, a combination that enables the vehicle to achieve both superior performance and class leading*2 fuel economy of 13.2km/l*3. Moreover, the all-new Odyssey features DBW (drive-by-wire) control and an ECON mode which improves fuel economy by applying collaborative control of the CVT and air conditioner to reduce engine load.
*1 M, L, and Li FWD vehicles
*2 2.4l (gasoline engine) minivan class
*3 M, L, and Li FWD vehicles. Fuel economy when driven in 10-15 mode(Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism figures)

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Honda Motor Co said its two joint ventures in China sold 46,697 cars in September, up 3.5 pct year-on-year.

In the first nine months of 2008, car sales at the two joint ventures rose 19.7 pct year-on-year to 356,258 units, it said in a statement.

Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group, sold 32,289 vehicles in September, flat from a year earlier, while sales at the other joint venture, Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co Ltd, rose 12.7 pct from a year earlier to 14,408 units.

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Honda motor Co. will be announced by 4 November,2008 at http://www.honda.co.jp/LIFE/new/

All new Life has “simple life” concept thinking with 3 choose fit your life.
-G style
-Pastel
-Diva

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Honda will begin production1 of V-6 Accord sedans at its Alabama auto plant while increasing production of 4-cylinder Accords in Marysville, Ohio, the company announced. These moves are part of a series of production adjustments that Honda is making in North America and globally to meet customer demand for its lineup of fuel-efficient passenger cars and light trucks, as well as to ensure the most efficient use of its manufacturing capacity.

“We are leveraging our flexible manufacturing network to meet the needs of our customers for more fuel-efficient products,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “We will continue to guide our business based on strategic and careful management tied to our core values.”

The latest changes in Honda’s North American production strategy include:

The majority of V-6 Accord sedan production will shift from Honda’s Marysville Auto Plant in Ohio to the Honda auto plant in Lincoln, Ala. in mid-2009.
The Marysville Auto Plant will increase its production of 4-cylinder Accord sedans in mid-2009, decreasing imports of Accord to the U.S.

The Anna, Ohio Engine Plant, will increase production of 4-cylinder engines.

Production of the Honda Ridgeline pickup will be moved from Canada to Alabama in early 2009 (previously announced).

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Renault and Honda have confirmed they will be among the teams authorised to make performance improvements to their engines ahead of the 2009 season.

The FIA declared recently that some teams will be allowed to “equalise engine performance”, following the emergence of a situation whereby some frozen-specification V8s have pulled ahead this year.

“We will have to present a project to the FIA with all the changes that we want to do, and they will have to approve them,” Renault boss Flavio Briatore confirmed to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Honda’s team CEO Nick Fry, meanwhile, explained that only some teams will get the green light to carry out work.

“For some, like McLaren, Ferrari and BMW, it is probably not necessary. But yes, I can confirm that we (Honda) will be able to do it.”

It is believed that Toyota is the other carmaker likely to be approved for engine performance improvements.

Briatore, who argues that Renault has fallen as much as 30 horse power behind in the engine freeze, explained: “It is obvious that we will not be able to change the concept of the engine, but we will be able to modify some internal components.

“This year we are the team that has improved its car the most. With the improvement of our engine, in 2009 we will have a great single seater,” the Italian vowed.

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Honda Motor Co. said today it is boosting U.S. production of its Honda Accord while cutting production of its Odyssey minivans and Pilot sport-utility vehicles.

Honda said it is transferring most of its V6 Accord assembly from its plant in Marysville, Ohio, to its plant in Lincoln, Ala., where it has cut minivan and SUV production by 10,000 units this year. After moving most V6 Accord production to Alabama, Honda will boost production of four-cylinder Accords in Marysville, and plans to cut Odyssey and Pilot production there by an additional 22,000 units.

“We are trying to use our plant flexibility to minimize the effects of the market going down and satisfy our customers’ desire for more cars and fewer trucks,” said Honda spokesman Ed Miller.

The production shifts won’t result in an increase in availability of the Accord in the United States — Honda will import fewer from Japan — but does mean that Honda will make a higher percentage of Accords in the United States.

At its plant in Lincoln, Ala., Honda will cut production of the Pilot by 8,000 units, or 32%, in November, and again in the first quarter by about 14,000 units, spokesman Ed Miller said. Taken with an earlier announced reduction, the company will have cut output of the vehicle by 11% from the beginning of August to the end of March next year.
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Honda is pulling out all the stops for its replacement for the Acura NSX supercar, confirming it will be powered by a new V10 engine and boasting that it will be faster than Nissan’s GT-R. Expected to be sold exclusively under the Acura brand, the new model is scheduled to arrive in 2010 for the 2011 model year and availability is expected to be scarce.

“This sort of discussion was made between the American Honda people and R&D people, and some people were questioning whether it’s really necessary to have a V-10,” said Koichi Kondo, executive vice president of Honda in an interview that appeared in Automotive News. “But sports is a special category. We said if we’re going to do it, we’re going to go to the extreme.”
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