Honda News
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Consumer Reports, long respected by consumers for its unbiased analysis of everything from vacuum cleaners to children’s toys to cars, has published its list of the most reliable (and unreliable) vehicles. Overall, the results are stunning — five of the top eight most reliable family cars were hybrids, and topping that short list is the Honda Insight. Though in its first year on the market, the Insight led the pack of reliable hybrids, finishing well ahead of the popular Toyota Prius, the best-selling hybrid in the U.S. Aside from the Insight, the other four hybrids that made the grade...
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Toyota Prius To Add Coupe In 2011 To Target 2011 Honda CR-Z
Building on the success of the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid, which is close to sold out due to worldwide demand, Toyota is planning to add additional body styles to the Prius line. Now, the first details of those cars have emerged, and one new model will apparently be a two-door coupe that targets the...
John Voelcker -
Drive Report: 26 MPG in 2010 Chevrolet Equinox Four-Cylinder
During a trip to Detroit last week, we had a chance to spend a couple of days with the all-new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox five-pasenger crossover sport-utility vehicle. We'd wanted to try this vehicle for some time, as most reviews deemed it vastly superior to the previous model. Certainly it's got...
John Voelcker -
Axon Automotive Reveals Plug-In Hybrid In The UK
Is that the original Honda Insight? At least one commenter on Green Car Congress agrees that the diminutive plug-in hybrid pictured to the left bears some likeness to the spunky fuel sipper that debuted back in 1999. (Of course the Insight didn't come with a plug.) Resemblance aside, this is the...
Robert Scardino -
Greenest Car Company, Honda, Goes Greener Yet, Harder and Faster
Honda has the highest average fleet mileage of any volume carmaker selling in the U.S. market today. And it's had that distinction for many years. But in the face of the car-market meltdown, oil prices that have risen from $30 to $80 a barrel within months, and growing global environmental...
John Voelcker -
GreenCarReports: 2009 Tokyo Motor Show Coverage
It's a sad thing when an auto show loses its exhibitors, and this was a tough year for Tokyo. Foreign automakers shunned the show--unless you count England's Lotus--so the biannual event had pretty much only Japanese products on display. Despite the downsizing, green cars abounded, ranging from new...
John Voelcker -
Honda unveiled the second concept version of its sporty hybrid coupe the CR-Z at the Tokyo Motor Show. The production version will make its world debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit just months from now. The concept displayed in Tokyo features seating for four, though Honda notes that the production version "will be packaged as a sporty, 2 seat hybrid that provides a personal driving experience for North American customers." Erik Berkman, vice president of Automobile Corporate Planning and Logistics for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. said, "The Honda CR-Z will...
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Hybrids, Yes, But No Dedicated Hybrid Models for Nissan
Nissan has made a bigger bet on electric cars than any other automaker, with plans to launch its 2012 Leaf electric car globally. But if electric cars are the future of green vehicles, hybrids are today's state of the art. And there, Nissan has lagged. It is developing its own hybrid system, but...
John Voelcker -
Best Fuel Efficiency in the U.S.: 2010 Toyota Prius, at 50 MPG
Well, now it's official. The 2010 Toyota Prius offers the best gas mileage of any new car sold in the U.S. for the upcoming 2010 model year, with a blended EPA rating of 50 miles per gallon. The 2010 Prius had actually been rated at 50 mpg back in March, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
John Voelcker -
Green Car of the Year Finalists: Three Hybrids, Two Diesels
The five finalists for the 2010 Green Car of the Year Award include three hybrid models--two Japanese hatchbacks and one U.S. sedan--and a pair of German clean-diesel cars. The nominations were announced today by Green Car Journal, which has presented the award at the Los Angeles Auto Show for five...
John Voelcker -
Hybrid Sales Plummet After Cash-For-Clunkers Credits Quit
We knew all along that the Cash-For-Clunkers program induced July and August car buyers to go for vehicles they might not otherwise have chosen, specifically smaller cars with higher gas mileage. Especially hybrid-electric vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and others. But now comes the hybrid...
John Voelcker -
PREVIEW: 2011 Honda CR-Z Hybrid Two-Seat Sports Coupe
While the 2010 Honda Insight is the company's big hybrid news for this year, it's far from the only new hybrid headed to us from Honda. As we've noted before, Honda will launch two more hybrids in 2010 as 2011 models. Now, Honda has released photos of its "CR-Z Concept 2009" show car, to be...
John Voelcker -
According to Honda, the CR-Z hybrid will be the world's first hybrid sports car and will take on numerous other sports car when it launches next year. New pictures have been released showing an updated version of the CR-Z concept. The concept vehicle will be on display at the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of this month. According to Autocar, the pictures are 95% production ready and don't differentiate much from the concept version unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. The CR-Z will be powered by a 1.5 liter gasoline engine with horsepower estimated to be around 120. Coupled with the...
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2010 Hyundai Elantra Blue: Higher MPG, Just $25 More
The 2010 Hyundai Elantra is the latest iteration of a compact car known for frugality and low price. This year, Hyundai has boosted the mileage, raising the standard five-speed manual model to 26 mpg city / 35 mpg highway from last year's 24 mpg city / 33 mpg highway. The 2.0-liter, four-cylinder...
John Voelcker -
Preview: 2011 Mazda2
Mazda will launch its global subcompact, the Mazda2 five-door hatchback, in the US market roughly a year from now. Its first appearance in North America will be at December's 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. Price is likely to be around $16,000. It is based on the same platform as the eagerly awaited...
John Voelcker -
Do Hybrids and Small Cars Guzzle Gas at Highway Speeds?
Consumer Reports Releases Their Findings on Highway MPG Tests
Jonathan McGrew -
Electric Supercar Alert: Steenstra Styletto Images Released
Watch your back Tesla. There's a new electric supercar in the works and it's being developed right in your backyard. International car designer, Cornelis Steenstra just released the first images of his zero-emissions, 200-mph-plus, sports car which he hopes to put on the streets by early 2013...
Robert Scardino -
According to the Best Car magazine of Japan, Toyota is currently working on a dedicated sporty hybrid model that aims to compete with the upcoming CR-Z hybrid from Honda. The report states that Toyota is considering employing a famous Italian design company such as Pininfarina or Guigiaro Italdesign to work on the styling of the sporty version that's expected to be a coupe. The image above is an artist rendering of a possible coupe model based on the Prius. Toyota needs to produce this vehicle in order to compete with the slightly sportier version of the Honda Insight, the CR-Z. The CR-Z is...
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2010 Toyota Prius Gets Top Safety Rating
It's almost sold out in some areas, the solar sunroof is smashing sales projections, and now the 2010 Toyota Prius had added a further laurel to its overflowing cap: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded the 2010 Prius its "Top Safety Pick" designation. That award goes to vehicles...
John Voelcker -
2010 Honda Insight a Top Safety Pick By IIHS
It may be subcompact in size, but the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid just got handed a big award. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded the 2010 Honda Insight EX its "Top Safety Pick" designation, which it bestows on vehicles that do the best job of protecting their occupants in front...
John Voelcker -
2010 Insight and Prius Earn IIHS "Top Safety Pick" Award
The 2010 Honda Insight and 2010 Toyota Prius were two of three of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's newest 2009 Top Safety Pickaward winners. According to the Institute's website, in order to qualify for Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of "good" in the...
Jennifer Knightstep -
2010 Honda Insight Sales To Fall Short of Goal?
Before it launched in the US in March, the 2010 Honda Insight generated huge buzz. It was the "affordable hybrid," the "Prius killer," Honda's triumphant re-entry into the dedicated hybrid market it abandoned with the first generation Insight in 2006. So how's it going? Well, 2010 Insights are...
John Voelcker -
Top Clunker Buys Compared: Toyota Corolla vs Ford Focus vs Honda Civic
Thinking about trading in your clunker for a nice, new, fuel-efficient car? Take a breath; the first-week success of the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," looks to be continued at least through Labor Day. Last Friday, the US House of Representatives...
John Voelcker