August 19th, 2008 — honda
2009 Honda Civic Lineup Receives New Exterior Styling; Available Technology Features Now Include Bluetooth HandsFreeLink and USB Audio Interface
New LX-S and VP sedans expand variety
The Honda Civic is enhanced inside and out for 2009 with new exterior styling, colors and available tech-friendly features like Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink® and a USB Audio Interface 1. An exclusively-equipped Civic LX-S Sedan debuts with alloy wheels and sportier interior styling. A new Civic DX Value Package (DX-VP) Sedan builds on the Civic DX Sedan’s standard features by adding air conditioning and an audio system.
“The Civic lineup uniquely embraces traditional gasoline, hybrid, high performance and natural gas technologies like no other vehicle in the world,” said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “The exterior styling enhancements and newly-available features help strengthen Civic’s position as one of the best-selling vehicles in a market that’s embracing small cars more than ever.”
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August 19th, 2008 — award
| Car buyer satisfaction |
| Results of the 2008 American Customer Satisfaction Index, from the University of Michigan. Scores on a 100-point scale: |
| Automaker |
2008 |
2007 |
Change |
| Lexus |
87 |
87 |
0.0% |
| BMW |
87 |
86 |
1.2 |
| Toyota |
86 |
84 |
2.4 |
| Honda |
86 |
84 |
2.4 |
| Buick |
85 |
86 |
-1.2 |
| Cadillac |
85 |
86 |
-1.2 |
| Saturn |
85 |
81 |
4.9 |
| Lincoln-Mercury |
83 |
86 |
-3.5 |
| Hyundai |
83 |
83 |
0.0 |
| GMC |
83 |
82 |
1.2 |
| Mercedes-Benz |
82 |
83 |
-1.2 |
| Nissan |
82 |
80 |
2.5 |
| Industry average |
82 |
82 |
0.0 |
| Volkswagen |
81 |
80 |
1.3 |
| Pontiac |
80 |
80 |
0.0 |
| Ford |
80 |
80 |
0.0 |
| Chrysler |
80 |
79 |
1.3 |
| Mazda |
80 |
78 |
2.6 |
| Kia |
80 |
78 |
2.6 |
| Chevrolet |
79 |
82 |
-3.7 |
| Dodge |
78 |
80 |
-2.5 |
| Jeep |
76 |
75 |
1.3 |
| Source: University of Michigan |
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August 16th, 2008 — toyota
Hot off its success with its best-selling Prius sedan, Toyota Motor Co. announced Friday that it would make hybrid-engine systems available on all of its models by 2020.
The announcement came as all of the auto makers at an industry conference this week in northern Michigan maneuvered to carve out their own niches in fuel-efficient design, from expansion of the gasoline/electric hybrid technology already available in the Prius to the new plug-in hybrid vehicle known as the Volt under development by General Motor Corp.
Ford Motor Co., the Dearborn-Mich. auto maker with few of its vehicles with hybrid options, plans to double its hybrid-vehicle lineup and production next year. And Honda Motor Co. said this week at the Traverse City, Mich., conference that in 2009, it will import a new hybrid to compete directly against the new Prius in the U.S. market — and at a lower price.
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August 6th, 2008 — nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled all-electric and original hybrid electric prototype vehicles, both powered by advanced lithium-ion batteries. Under the NISSAN GT 2012 business plan, the company has committed to zero-emission vehicle leadership, and has announced plans to introduce an all-electric vehicle in 2010 and mass market globally in 2012.
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May 27th, 2008 — honda
Honda will sell a new, improved and affordable gas-electric hybrid in the U.S., Japan and Europe starting in early 2009, underlining the Japanese automaker’s commitment to “green” technology, the company president said Wednesday.
The new model _ to be sold solely as a hybrid, and not as a traditional, gasoline-powered car _ is a key part of Honda Motor Co.’s strategy for the next three years that President Takeo Fukui outlined at Tokyo headquarters.
The plan also included production innovations and expansion in Japan to cut costs so Honda can stay competitive amid soaring material and energy costs, he said.
In addition to the new hybrid, Honda will introduce several other hybrids: a Civic, a new sporty model based on the CR-Z and a Fit subcompact, sold as the Jazz in Europe, Fukui said.
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April 25th, 2008 — mazda
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today confirmed that its all-new MAZDA6 sports sedan will launch later this year, with an expected on-sale date in late summer, 2008. The highly anticipated 2009 MAZDA6 is the first of Mazda’s “Zoom-Zoom Evolution” second-generation vehicles, building on a heritage of sports sedans and sports cars that no other manufacturer can boast, and bringing a combination of sports sedan, sophistication, build quality and product insight not currently found in the market.
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April 3rd, 2008 — toyota
TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. denied on Wednesday it had received any funding from the Japanese government to develop its hit Prius gas-electric hybrid car.
Japan’s top automaker rejected a March 24 Business Week report that quoted Jim Press, vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC and a former board member at Toyota, as saying, “The Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”
Press worked for 37 years at Toyota, including the years of research for the Prius, which went on sale 10 years ago. He left Toyota for Chrysler last September.
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April 2nd, 2008 — Auto Sale Ranking
March
2008 |
% change |
2008
YTD |
% change |
| Ford F-Series |
54,465 |
-23.8% |
148,138 |
-13.7% |
| Chevrolet Silverado |
42,561 |
-23.5% |
122,779 |
-19.6% |
| Toyota Camry |
40,487 |
-4.2% |
107,002 |
1.1% |
| Honda Accord |
36,214 |
-0.8% |
87,802 |
-5.2% |
| Honda Civic |
32,740 |
10.2% |
77,532 |
13.8% |
| Nissan Altima |
31,409 |
14.1% |
76,407 |
3.2% |
| Chevrolet Impala |
29,010 |
1.8% |
71,750 |
-11.1% |
| Dodge Ram |
26,318 |
-31.3% |
68,862 |
-24.6% |
| Toyota Corolla / Matrix |
25,109 |
-26.9% |
67,047 |
-24.0% |
| Ford Focus |
21,168 |
24.0% |
49,070 |
23.2% |
| Toyota Prius |
20,635 |
7.7% |
42,907 |
8.1% |
| Honda CR-V |
18,974 |
-3.5% |
50,684 |
6.5% |
| Ford Escape |
18,517 |
12.1% |
43,900 |
11.7% |
| GMC Sierra |
15,919 |
-3.5% |
44,207 |
-7.5% |
| Ford Fusion |
15,887 |
0.6% |
40,050 |
0.9% |
| Toyota Tacoma |
15,587 |
-14.6% |
39,776 |
-14.1% |
| Pontiac G6 |
15,108 |
21.9% |
45,951 |
28.9% |
| Chevrolet Malibu |
14,931 |
7.2% |
41,247 |
31.0% |
| Toyota Tundra |
14,311 |
8.4% |
40,784 |
39.7% |
| Dodge Caravan |
14,104 |
-21.3% |
33,271 |
-37.1% |
| Source: Autodata Corp. |
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March 16th, 2008 — Auto show / Motor Show, Hyundai
Click those pics for LARGE picture.
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March 11th, 2008 — Auto show / Motor Show, nissan
Nissan’s getting into the all-electric vehicle game, and is planning to show off a concept version of its vision at next week’s New York show, according to a report in Automotive News.
Nissan is reportedly already testing an all-electric vehicle in its Cube box-mobile, a gas-powered version of which is expected to come to the U.S. market next year. The test Cube is using lithium-ion battery technology developed in cooperation with NEC Corp., but Nissan wouldn’t say if the Cube would be the vehicle platform for the new technology.
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