Toyota Sales Plunge More than 33% in May, Chrysler Group up by 10%

The numbers for U.S. auto sales for the month of May are out and as expected, Japanese automakers continue to be hit hard by the ongoing production disruptions caused by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in their home market. As a result, Toyota’s sales plunged 33.4% over the year-ago month to 108,387 units, while rivaling Honda saw its sales fall 22.5% to 90,773 vehicles, Nissan recorded a 9.1% drop to 76,148 units and Mazda 17,875 vehicles, down 20.9%.

General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 221,192 vehicles in May posting a decline of 1%, while the Ford Motor Co. said its sales decreased by 0.1% to 192,253 cars, trucks and SUVs.

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Honda Patents New 2012 Civic Sedan and Coupe Designs in Europe

A peek through the European patent office files revealed images of Honda’s freshly launched in North America, 2012 Civic in both four-door sedan and two-door coupe guise. Given that the European market will get its own, bespoke version of the Civic, chances are that Honda simply wanted to cover its back like most of the competition just in case another automaker (we are looking towards you China) got any crazy ideas.

However, it is possible that Honda will offer the four-door saloon model in certain European countries to compete against the Volkswagen Jetta. With the exception of one version of the Civic sedan seen in this set of images and which features slightly modified taillights with additional strips that extend towards the license plate holder, there are no other differences compared to the North American Civic.

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Honda Canada Hacked: 250,000+ Customers Affected By Security Breach

Less than a month after Sony’s Playstation Network was compromised by hackers seeking personal information, a similar mishap has struck the Canadian arm of Honda / Acura. In a notice to its customers, the Japanese automaker revealed:

“The incident involved the unauthorized access of information as held in our records in 2009, specifically name, address, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and in a small number of cases, Honda Financial Services account numbers.”

It is believed that as many as 283,321 have been affected by the security breach. Honda Canada Executive VP Jerry Chenkin released a statement saying: “The information was limited and is not typically used for the purposes of identity theft or fraud. We would like to sincerely apologize to our Canadian customers for this incident. Honda and Acura are working diligently to protect our customers' personal information and improve our data security procedures on an ongoing basis.”

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Honda: US Output to Reach 100% by August for All Models Except the New 2012 Civic which will Remain at 50%

Following a recent announcement from Toyota predicting an increase in North American production this summer after the problems created by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Honda today said that its North American factories would return to near-normal production for all vehicles except the new 2012 Civic by this August. Read more »

Hyundai Set to Become Sixth Biggest Automaker in the U.S. In 2011

In the realm of U.S. automotive sales, 8% is a magic number. When an automaker hits 8%, they know they’ve become one of the big guns. Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Dodge and Nissan have all made it, and 2011 is expected to be Hyundai’s year.

So sayeth market research firm Polk, and I’m tempted to agree. Hyundai and its partner-brand / internal rival Kia have steadily been evolving into truly world-class carmakers. They’re keenly priced, inoffensive to look at and comprehensively covered quality-wise – everything the vast majority of new car buyers want in this day and age.

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2011 Honda revealed Honda BRIO concept cars preview and specification

2011 Honda revealed Honda BRIO concept cars preview and specification
Subaru cars wallpapers gallery: http://car-wheelx.blogspot.com/2011/05/2011-subaru-impreza-wrx-limited-reveiw.html

2011 Honda revealed new Honda Fit EV concept cars wallpapers and prices

2011 Honda revealed new Honda Fit EV concept cars wallpapers and prices
BMW 7 series car wallpapers and preview: http://car-wheelx.blogspot.com/2011/05/2012-bmw-7-series-m-sports-model-740d.html

Hilarious Honda Malaysia Ad Mocks Independent Service Centers

As car owners, most of us have had bad experiences with auto service stations, either official or independent. Of course, carmakers don't like competition from independent units, so here's what Honda of Malaysia thinks of these stations. In a commercial for the local market, Honda mocks an independent garage called “HONDI” which, as you may have already assumed, offers bad service for big bucks.

A beautiful young woman, owner of a Honda Civic, is shown taking her car to the Hondi service center, where all sorts of strange things happen, with the personnel doing a crappy job while singing their own version of the famous “YMCA” song. If only service stations were such a blast... Follow the jump to watch the ad.

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First Photos of Honda’s Hot CR-Z Mugen, Early Tests Show better Performance than Civic Type R

Honda's sporty-looking CR-Z hybrid will finally get the performance to back its looks, as the Japanese carmaker teamed up with its tuning partner Mugen Euro to develop a high-performance version of the hybrid model. As we wrote earlier this year, the car will be unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but until then, you can take a look at the first official photos of the car to see if they match the sketches released by Honda two months ago.

The Japanese company says development of the CR-Z Mugen is on track, with “performance figures already looking promising”. Honda revealed that early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have given 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint times around that of the European market Civic Type R (6.6 seconds). Later on, Mugen increased output by another 15 percent and reduced the chassis' weight by 50 kilograms, so that overall performance is expected to be even better than the Type R's.

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honda civic coupe 2009 wallpaperes and features reviews

honda civic coupe 2009 wallpaperes and features reviews
onda Civic comes in a choise of 4 basic packages. The DX is the standart type, LX is the middle type, EX type has the automatic and Si type, which is a sport version of the Civic. The DX and Se version have 5-speed manual transmission beside automatic transmission is also available as an option.

honda civic hybrid 2006 wallpaperes and features reviews

honda civic hybrid 2006 wallpaperes and features reviews

honda civic hybrid 2005 wallpapers and reviews

honda civic hybrid 2005 wallpapers and reviews
The Honda Civic is an automobile manufactured by Honda. It was introduced in July 1972 as a two-door coupe, followed by a 3-door hatchback version that September. With the transverse engine placement of its 1169 cc engine and front wheel drive, like the British Mini, the car provided good interior space despite overall small dimensions.
Estimated 43 mpg on the Highway[2]
* AT-PZEV CARB Emissions Rating[3]

* Honda's Integrated Motor Assist IMA® System
* 110-hp, 8-valve, SOHC, i-VTEC® 4-Cylinder Engine[4]
* Available Leather-Trimmed Interior
* Dual-Point Sequential Ignition System
* Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
* USB Audio Interface[5]
* Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) Body Structure

honda civic hybrid interior wallpapers and reviews

honda civic hybrid interior wallpapers and reviews
the interior of the 2011 Honda Civic Hybrid sports a two tiered instrument panel, power windows and locks, Satellite Linked Navigation System, optional leather/heated seats, and many other whistles and bells. Here are some pictures showing the interior of the 2011 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Toyota and Shell Build New Station in California, Honda FCX Clarity Users Rejoice

Toyota and Honda celebrated today the opening of the first hydrogen station in the U.S. fueled directly from an industrial hydrogen pipeline. Located near the headquarters of Toyota USA, in Torrance, California, the station is built on the company's land and is the result of a collaboration between Shell, Toyota, Air Products, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the Department of Energy.

The station will provide hydrogen for the Toyota fuel cell hybrid demonstration program vehicles, as well as other manufacturers' fuel cell cars in the Los Angeles area.

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honda civic hybrid 2006 review and pictures

honda civic hybrid 2006 review and pictures
The Honda Civic Hybrid is the car that has set the quality and performance standard for the affordable, compact hybrid car market. The sedan adds to the LX's features automatic climate control,

a roof-mounted radio antenna, a rear decklid spoiler, and hybrid-pertinent digital data displays. For 2006, the Honda Civic Hybrid has been redesigned.
The good: The 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid includes the best voice-recognition system we've seen in a car.

Honda USA Shows Some Personal Appreciation to its Facebook Fans

Recently, Honda USA’s facebook page hit the one-millionth fan mark. To show its appreciation, the Japanese brand responded with some personal gestures that, unlike the look of some of its more recent models like the Civic, took some of its fans by surprise.

For example, in response to a fan that mowed the Honda logo on his lawn, the Japanese company carved his name into the corporate headquarters next to the main entrance. Another fan that showed his love for Honda with a tattoo of the brand’s logo was surprise to find out that Honda's vice president of marketing got an airbrushed tattoo of his name and face. Finally, a fan that received a Honda haircut was emulated by a Honda associate who carved the fan's name in his hair.

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Honda crv 2012

Mechanical: The 2012 Honda CR-V will continue its basic formula of a four-cylinder engine working through front- or all-wheel drive. Sources suggest Honda will essentially carry over the third-generation CR-V’s engine for the first few years of the new design, then transition to a new powertrain as part of a mid-cycle update, probably around model-year 2015. That would mean the 2012 CR-V would reprise a 2.4-liter four-cylinder that would again be rated around 180 horsepower and 161 pound-feet of torque. (Think of torque as the force that gets you moving, horsepower as the energy that sustains momentum.)
That would allow the 2012 CR-V to retain a competitive horsepower number but would keep it behind the class curve for torque. The 2012 CR-V would also remain off the pace if Honda chooses to continue fitting a five-speed automatic as the sole transmission. Top new rivals use more efficient six-speed automatics. CR-V’s default drivetrain layout will again be front-wheel drive, which puts the weight of the engine over the wheels that propel the car. That benefits wet-pavement traction. AWD will continue available at extra cost as a grip-enhancer on snow or loose surfaces.
It’ll again be a crossover-typical system that normally operates in front-wheel drive and automatically reapportions power to the rear wheels when the fronts begin to slip. CR-V’s design brief will never include severe off-road duty, but Honda would enhance the next-generation’s backwoods mobility by fitting it with a driver-selected switch to lock AWD into a 50:50 front-rear split at low speeds. Many rivals offer such a feature. While the 2007-2011 CR-V wasn’t known for responsive acceleration, it was a compact-crossover benchmark for sharp handling and composed ride. That leadership is likely to continue, given Honda’s suspension-design expertise, though some reduction in wind and road noise is necessary to keep the fourth-generation CR-V in line with more refined new rivals.