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Press Release Just to add, the information in this article is based off the current FCX, which is that funky blue looking coupe/minivan thing. The next gen FCX sedan is due out next year or so and will be a step above the current, having a range of 350 mi, and increased efficiency and performance (see here for info on the new FCX and pictures of the prototype). Hydrogen Station

Well not exactly, but close. For all cars sold in 2006, the average percentage of parts that came from North America in a Toyota vehicle was 48%. That's compared to 60% for Honda, 45% for Nissan, and 80% for GM. See this thread (the article at Detroit Free Press has expired though).

And you have test data to prove this? So then the Rogue will be the best-selling SUV in America?

The Canadian CSX uses the same lights as the Japanese Civic, while the U.S. Civic was changed (not sure why, the Japanese head lights are nicer looking IMO).

Full Article @ Nihon Car Full Article @ The Torque Report 40k for a Civic seems a bit much, but apparently the Mugen RR's lap times would beg to differ. Read the posts over at TOV, lap times are in the NSX/Ferrari F40/WRX STI C-Spec range. And this isn't just on tight small tracks, here are the times for the non-Mugen Civic Type R (not the RR) around Suzuka:

Even if both numbers were from 2007 EPA ratings, the hybrid is likely to lose more than a diesel when going to real world figures.

Full Article The car shown for the testbed is actually a TSX/Euro Accord, which weighs a tad less than our American (fatty) Accord, but never-the-less, it is great mileage.

Cadillac: CTS, CTS-V Chevrolet: Corvette, Cobalt SS, Impala Saturn: Sky, Aura

The percentages are adjusted for daily selling rate.

Hmm, it could be that way too.

Which is definitely good, but GM still has a long way to go. They are on the right track. That's oddly put, makes it sound like retail sales aren't what auto makers are supposed to rely on. Honda still relies a few percent on fleet sales overall, about 1.2% for all vehicles it sold in 2006. Even though GM reduced its fleet sales, it is probably still in the 20-30% range for fleet sales overall for the year. Here are some interesting charts that show the percentage of fleet sales for each manufacturer: Cars Trucks Think of it like this, if GM kept the same ratio of fleet to retail, how much would their sales have still dropped this month? It would have likely still been a close to or at double digit drop, no way fleet sales alone could have made up that 19% deficit. Honda still dropped less in retail sales compared to GM. If Honda pumped some cars into fleet sales they could have likely broke even or be in the positive... but that would be a bad idea for sure. Retail isn't up, just the ratio of retail to fleet sales changed. Despite retail sales increasing 15%, overall sales decreased 19%. For example. Say GM sold 1000 cars last year in July, 30% to fleet (300 cars), 70% to retail (700 cars). Sales dropped 19% to 810 total this year in July. 15% fleet (121 cars), 85% retail (688 cars). Retail sales are still down, despite the higher percentage of retail versus fleet. I don't know how the numbers will actually pan out, but retail sales are still going to be down compared to last year's retail sales in July. Of course if GM managed to sell cars this July with less incentives than last year in July, profits could be up.... (which they are aren't they?)

TSX is smaller, along the lines of a Lexus IS or Audi A4. TL is bigger, along the lines of Lexus ES/GS or Cadillac CTS, etc However they both might grow for their next generation, so it's hard to say. If this spy pic is the TSX, it looks a bit larger than the current model.

It's extremely likely that all of Acura will be AWD in the next couple years; the next TSX and TL will both likely have SH-AWD on their next model cycles. I just hope they use a better formula than they did with the RL. I think they learned their lesson though and the next TL should be a much better RL. Lighter weight, better gearing, better suspension (maybe active suspension like on the MDX), more power, and most important of all, a luxury image.

Well, the TSX is due for a replacement before the TL. While they were both released as 2004 models, the TSX received its refresh in 2006 while the TL did in 2007. The TSX was also released earlier in the year than the new TL, although I don't have any concrete data on that. The TSX should receive its full model change before the TL. While the camoed prototype in the photo does look large, it also resembles the Sports4 concept considerably, which is supposed to be the next TSX. The TSX will undoubtedly grow a little in size too. I don't think Honda will keep the Euro-Accord / TSX thing going forever, or really has to. It just happen to work out that way for this generation. It'll be interesting to see what they do, and if they keep a different Accord for the European market.

I think you're confusing the entire Acura division with sales of the RL. -------- 2003 --- 2004 --- 2005 --- 2006 TSX --- n/a ---- 30365 - 34856 - 38035 TL ----- n/a ---- 77895 - 78218 - 71348 RL ----- n/a ---- 8753 -- 17572 - 11501 MDX -- 57281 - 59505 - 57948 - 54121 I can see the TL sales sliding, but TSX sales have been increasing since intro. The MDX did drop slightly before the release of the new model. Other than the RL, none of the models "tanked".

As do many other makes, including Honda. You might want to check some of the other threads on this site, Honda will offer a clean-running (Tier 2 Bin 5 compliant) diesel here in the US for the 2009 MY (which means 2008, most likely available on the next gen Accord, or so the speculation goes). Toyota just started testing a plug-in hybrid, they don't have one available to sell to the public.

The reason they only offer it loaded up is so they can recoup some of the costs of the hybrid system. It's all marketing. They say the hybrid system only add $2,000 to the cost, in order to make hybrids seem more affordable, but in reality it's much more. They're "losing" money on the hybrid option, but making up for it by selling the customer $4,000 worth of options.

And Honda is already getting 92mpg from the diesel accord. The big deal is that the new diesel will be clean and quiet and achieve good fuel economy by normal people and not professional drivers on closed courses. Is that a smoke screen?

hmm... I'm thinking reg has taken control of toyoguy's account, because his posts seem to be so full of hate lately. As far as the reply.... is it is a dumb move for Honda because they are offering a one-off edition at an outrageous price-premium and will sell every single one?

Diesels carry a price premium just like hybrids; they don't make good high performance engines either. By that logic, why does Toyota offer anything but hybrids? Honda is an engineering company, and has made mistakes with vehicles like the RL and Accord Hybrid. They obviously aren't afraid to try something a little different, and sometimes it backfires. Think of it like this; at most manufacturers, the bean-counters control the engineers and give them guidelines for what the market needs/wants. At Honda, the engineers are given less guidelines, and allowed to pursue projects that are more risky from a sales standpoint. I guess that's what you get when the company is run by an engineer and not a business major. If the Accord diesel was in-fact rated to 50mpg it would certainly be bad for the Civic. But then again, the regular Civic has a higher hwy rating than the Fit, and it doesn't seem to adversely affect the Fit's sales. I was looking over at fueleconomy.gov, and for the last 2 model years, I was surprised to find that the Civic Hybrid achieved real-world numbers very close to the Prius, despite being rated considerably less. Civic Hybrid EPA combined: 42, real-world: 45.3 (112 users) Prius EPA combined: 46, real-world: 46.9 (158 users) ('08 EPA numbers)

Well, Mugen is just as well known for their aerodynamic bodywork, and making fully wind-tunnel tested aero kits for stock Hondas (at ridiculous prices). This isn't a Type R Civic. In my opinion this is more of a collector's item.

So a low-mid 6s 0-60mph will get pwned by every stock sedan? While the power has not officially changed, the Mugen Si does have a better exhaust system, which is apparently good for 6hp more on the dyno (TOV has a test-drive of the Mugen Si up here). That combined with weight reduction and lighter weight wheels, better tires, and suspension, and it's a modest performance increase over the stock Si. However, to echo my first post, it's not a large enough increase in performance, IMO, to warrant the close to 30k sticker. I don't see why they just didn't put the S2000 engine in there.

The Accord is not a two-mode hybrid, but a mild hybrid as well. All Honda hybrids, including the 60mpg+ Insight, are mild hybrids. The performance-oriented Accord V6 hybrid gets the same mileage as the Aura hybrid, yet is much faster and heavier. Of course it's a whole lot more expensive..... If Honda made a 2.4L hybrid IMA Accord, it would probably be priced under the Camry/Altima by a hair, and get the same or better highway mileage with less city mileage. But then Honda will be giving us a 2.2L or 2.4L 50mpg+ diesel Accord, which will just make hybrids look dumb.

You got it, Toyota!

It's a hybrid. And even though it's cheaper it's going to get compared to other hybrids and look bad. What's the point of the Aura hybrid if 4cyl non-hybrid competition get the same real-world mileage and are faster to boot? I'm surprised no mags have done a comparison of the Aura greenline and the Accord/Camry 4cyl models.