Honda has revealed a ground-breaking hydrogen-powered FC Sport concept at the Los Angeles motor show.
The three-seat coupe concept car explores the flexibility of the Japanese brand's 'V Flow' hydrogen fuel cell technology. Until now, the emissions-free system has only been used in the FCX Clarity saloon.
Honda has again scored top points in the 2008 What Car?/JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey.
This year's survey asked 16,301 car owners for their verdicts on the service they got from their dealers. The five-star result was a unanimous seal of approval, with all those surveyed giving the thumbs-up, whether they had a Jazz supermini or a CR-V 4x4.
The overall star rating comprises ratings in five categories: Service Initiation, Service Adviser, Dealer Facilities, Picking Up and Service Quality.
Honda America has announced that three southern California motor retailers will comprise its first fuel cell dealer network in the world. Power Honda Costa Mesa, Honda of Santa Monica and Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance have been selected as each is located in close proximity to hydrogen refueling stations and will be well-positioned to support Honda's growing base of customers of its FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car.
Honda plans to boost its hybrid car sales with the launch of a new accessibly priced model next year, which it expects to sell 200,000 units of annually. The announcement came from Honda Motor Co CEO Takeo Fukui's mid-year address. The company will seek to further accelerate its hybrid sales by introducing a hybrid based on its Honda CR-Z, a new Civic Hybrid and the addition of a Jazz Hybrid model. With all four of these models, Honda expects combined annual sales of its hybrid models to reach 500,000 units.
Honda has done exceptionally well in the JD Power/What Car? 2008 UK Customer Satisfaction Index Study. In addition to ranking overall as one of the top three brands, it also picked up the greatest number of model segment awards - finishing in the top three in no fewer than five model categories.
Unsurprisingly the Honda Jazz picked up the crown for small cars; Honda Civic came third in the lower-medium segment; Honda CR-V was rated the top SUV.
Well done Honda!
Honda's Swindon factory was on of the UK's biggest inward investment projects. Honda has invested almost £2 billion in the factory, which has helped transform the industrial base of Swindon as a whole. Swindon produced the one millionth Civic in November last year and has just produced its two millionth British Honda in February this year.
Ken Keir, Managing Director Honda UK and Senior Vice President Honda Motor Europe, says:
The Civic Type R has been named Top Gear Hot Hatch of the Year. The award was presented by Jeremy Clarkson to Bernard Bradley, General Manager - Cars, at the Top Gear Awards dinner in London on Thursday 10 January.
Honda unveiled the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show, announcing plans to begin limited retail marketing of the vehicle in the US, starting summer 2008.
Tetsuo Iwamura - American Honda president and CEO - said:
The FCX Clarity is a shining symbol of the progress we've made with fuel cell vehicles
Honda UK Manufacturing Limited (HUM) celebrated a major milestone on Friday November 9th with the production of the millionth Swindon-built Civic, further underlining Honda's long term confidence in UK manufacturing and Swindon.
Civic production began on September 19, 1994 and in that first year just 6,652 Civics were produced. This year, HUM will produce 138,792 Civic cars.
David Hodgetts, HUM Director, said:
Honda shows new Honda CR-Z concept car at Tokyo Motor Show.
CR-Z stands for Compact Renaissance Zero - an expression intended to capture the idea of a renaissance in the design of compact cars that begins anew from fundamentals. This design research model of a lightweight hybrid sports car features advanced technologies that deliver enjoyable driving for all while reducing the vehicle's environmental footprint.