Honda's new Insight went on sale in hits homeland about a week ago, and already it's under attack. Before it hit the market, there were rumors that it would be much cheaper than the Toyota Prius. Toyota, however, has other ideas. The Insight is 1.89 million yen ($18,853 USD) in Japan, which is the same price as the current Prius. Toyota then priced the coming third generation Prius at 2.05 million yen ($20,437 USD) to keep it close to the Insight. Then Toyota said it would keep the second-generation Prius on sale in Japan, and there have been rumors that Toyota is also working on a cheaper Prius costing around 30% less than the current one. That would pit three Prius models against one Insight, all similarly priced.

In response, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said Honda will not lower the price of the Insight. Said Fukui, "I think that is something we can't do right now. We have to carefully examine the new Prius to know whether it is necessary for us to take certain measures. We have to think about the balance between cost and effectiveness." If Toyota does come out with three Japan-market Priuses, Honda will be thinking long and hard about those issues.

Unlike Toyota, though, Honda does have the CR-Z hybrid coming, which could give Honda some sporting hybrid credentials that Toyota doesn't yet have. Honda also said it is expanding its research and hybrid push into large sedans instead of counting on clean diesels for its bigger cars. Fukui feels that clean diesels are too expensive to develop be practical.



[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]

On Monday, we reported that Honda Europe had decided to cancel its participation in this fall's Frankfurt Motor Show. In that report, we speculated that it wouldn't be a surprise to see Honda follow Nissan's path of only participating in one major auto show per continent. It turns out that at this scenario is unlikely to happen. According to spokesman Chuck Schifsky, Honda has six major operating regions around the world, each one operating largely autonomously. There are certain standards that all regions follow, such as manufacturing quality requirements. But when it comes to marketing and promotions, Honda of America makes its own decisions independently from Honda of Europe and other regions.

Honda of Europe's pullout from Frankfurt was a local decision made for financial reasons, and while the American branch is also facing cost pressures and looking to save money, Schifsky says the automaker still sees value in auto shows. With that in mind, Honda is experimenting with new approaches: Earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show, there was no press conference for the Insight, it just appeared on the show floor. At other shows, the company will be trying other tactics to get its message out. For the time being though, Honda and Acura fans will still be able to see new machines both at the big shows, as well as at other regional shows like Cleveland, Miami and even Chicago.

It's looking like all auto shows are going to be feeling the pinch of a shrinking auto market including the mighty Frankfurt Motor Show. Honda has joined Nissan by pulling out of this fall's event in Germany in order to save money. Earlier this year, Nissan announced that it would only participate in one auto show on each continent -- Geneva, Tokyo and Los Angeles -- and although Honda hasn't made such a sweeping announcement yet, it appears to be taking things one show at a time. However, it wouldn't be surprising to see a similar move with only one North American show presence as well. At this year's Detroit Auto Show, Honda and Acura had stands but didn't bother with a press conference. Instead the new Insight was simply revealed on the show floor.

Speaking of the Insight it goes on sale in Europe on April 18. Elsewhere, Honda will begin testing its FCX Clarity fuel cell car in Germany later this year and will divert other resources to fuel cell and hydrogen development. Honda sees fuel cells as a better long term bet than batteries and plug-in vehicles and intends to pursue that direction.

Acura buyers can rest assured that their fancy Hondas have their backsides not only well cosseted, but well covered. No matter what direction you smash a current Acura, any of them, you're protected by a straight-A student. In front, side, and rear impacts, every car that Acura sells carries top ratings from both the IIHS and NHTSA. Acura's crediting its two crash test facilities -- one in Tochigi Japan, and the other in Raymond, Ohio -- with enabling the top scores. Paying attention to occupant and pedestrian safety has been a focus of Acura, and the brand is the first ever to earn top ratings for front, side, and rear crashes from both agencies. Maybe that shield grille on the TL really IS life imitating art. Press release after the jump.

The struggles of GM and Chrysler have been making headlines, but the entire industry has been hit with a near catastrophic decline in new car sales. That includes the once indefatigable Honda, with 2009 sales so far down more than 30% versus the first two months of 2008. In the wake of those sobering sales statistics, Honda is looking to cut pay and production in North America.

Automotive News is reporting that Honda will cut production by 62,000 units during the company's fiscal first quarter. The reductions will be achieved by shuttering plants for 13 days starting in May. Honda has traditionally paid its hourly workers even when plants were down, but this time workers won't be compensated for six of the days.

Honda will also cut salary and hourly pay in 2009, and reduce or eliminate bonuses. Honda also took the extraordinary step of offering buyouts to many of its 32,400 workers in the US and Canada. The auto industry is officially in the tank when Honda starts cutting production and pay, while simultaneously offering buyouts to most of its workforce.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

As enthusiasts, we sometimes make the mistake of referring to Honda as a car company. Honda started out as a motorcycle manufacturer, and now makes everything from generators to IRL engines to robots. The Japanese automaker has produced a series of short films to give the rest of the world a better idea of what it's all about. There are three videos so far, and the latest of these short documentary-style productions is about Honda's unique view of failure. The video, titled "Failure: The Secret to Success," provides insight into the thought process of company founder Soichiro Honda, and how he viewed failure as a means to winning. It also shows how much Honda, a successful car company by all accounts, has failed in the past and what it's learned from those missteps. Have you ever seen an orange 1996 Civic? Neither have we, and you'll know why when you watch the video after the jump.

The short film includes appearances by racing team chiefs, designers, engineers, and the one and only Danica Patrick. The video is just over eight minutes long, and it's available to view after the jump. It's worth your time whether you love the big H or not.

[Source: Honda]

The new Honda Insight, while not technically a full parallel hybrid like the Prius (it can cruise on electric power alone but not accelerate), will nevertheless be cross shopped heavily with the heavy weight from Toyota. The Insight's main selling point is its price, which starts under $20,000, but you wouldn't know that from Honda's first Insight ad.

The commercial, called 'Let it Shine', was created by the Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and uses a bank of Insights parked in a grid near the mountains as pixels in a giant LED-like display. When the sun goes down, the headlights begin flickering on and off to create a cutesy animation to the tune of "This Little Light of Mine".

It's the same kind of creative marketing we've come to expect from Honda, which scored its biggest commercial hit with a Honda Accord commercial that showed a Rube Goldberg-like machine created entirely out of car parts. The Insight commercial won't actually air in the U.S., so you're best chance to see it is after the jump. We've also included a Making Of video that shows just how difficult it was to produce.

[Source: Honda]

Newsflash: Television production sounds more glamorous than it really is. Oh sure, there are some that cruise around in conspicuous rides, but most tend to drive workaday cars. It'd be natural to expect the producer of "Rinky-Dink Town Today" on Cable Access would be tooling around in something less than a Mercedes S Class, but the people that make car shows, especially the Top Gear franchise, why, that producer surely drives something outrageously fly, right? Umm... no.

Andy Wilman, producer of the current Top Gear incarnation (and a presenter for the original series), is probably expected to drive something exotic or bombastic like his mates Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – but that's not how he rolls, apparently. A Honda Jazz (that's a Fit to you, Yankee) is at least a choice that car guys can still get behind, marrying utility and economy with a measure of fun.

Could Top Gear be headed for the same responsible, economical fate with all the new chatter about frugality? Not entirely, the exotics will always be there, and the entertaining road trips will continue to up the hijinks ante, but the show will be filled out by more economically-minded cars in light of the recent economic mood. There's probably more up Wilman's sleeve when it comes to Top Gear development, and he's also got his eye on a new Kia Soul, so it doesn't look like the Zebra's going to change his stripes much any time soon.

[Source: Independent.co.uk]

Being a Clevelander, I had already heard about what's going on at the site of Ford's former Lorain Assembly plant. At one time it was producing more than 10,000 vans and SUVs per month, but that number dwindled until eventually the plant was shuttered in 2005 and the property sold to the California-based Industrial Realty Group. We've heard the facility has since been rented out to a number of companies and we've even seen advanced driving courses being hosted on its expansive and now weed-ridden parking lot.

While slow sales once led to the Lorain plant's demise, the same situation today has given it a new purpose. Honda, which operates a number of plants in Ohio and takes full advantage of the state's existing network of rail lines, is renting the plant's parking lot to store up to 10,000 units of unsold inventory. The Japanese automaker, itself not used to having an overabundance of unsold vehicles on hand, has taken over the giant parking lot with a sea of Civics built in Ohio and Ontario, Acura MDX crossovers from Canada and Odyssey minivans from Alabama.

We've heard plenty of news reports about ports on each coast overflowing with unsold vehicles, but this is the first we've heard of a plant formerly owned and operated by a domestic being repurposed by an import automaker just for the use of storage. It's a sign of the times that companies are using creative solutions to get by, and this one ranks right up there.

[Source: Blog.Cleveland.com | Photo by Marvin Fong / The Plain Dealer]

Driving a HUMMER in Japan seems about as practical as piloting an Chevy Kodiak in the urban canyons of Manhattan. It's just not optimal. Solution? Take Honda's pint-sized pillbox on wheels, the Crossroad, and HUMMERize it. That's what Okada Enterprise (Motto: "We supplied high quality cars") has gone and done for Japanese drivers looking to add more macho to their micro. That is, if macho means a HUMMER-style grille, abundant chrome trim, gaudy wheels, and (our favorite) a backwards-reading "HUMMER H4" decal on the driver's side. The upside? The Crossroad-turned-HUMMER stands little chance of getting vandalized by intolerant eco-weenies. More photos of the various accessories are in the gallery below, and the Okada video promoting the kit is embedded after the jump.





[Source: Okada Enterprise]