Honda Plans to Begin Sales of Commercial Use Electric Scooter, EV-neo, in December 2010

Honda Plans to Begin Sales of Commercial Use Electric Scooter, EV-neo, in December 2010

Date: April 13, 2010 07:20
Submitted by: Jeff
Source: Honda Japan Press Release
Credibility Rating: Not Specified


TOKYO, Japan April 13, 2010 --- Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today revealed the latest prototype of the EV-neo electric scooter and announced plans to begin lease sales in Japan in December 2010 to businesses and individual business owners who provide mainly delivery services.

Honda developed the EV-neo, an electric scooter designed to provide the durability necessary for business use, envisioning a wide range of uses by businesses such as delivery services. Equipped with a lithium-ion battery and a brushless motor, EV-neo realizes excellent environmental performance with zero CO2 emissions in use. The battery is rechargeable using a household power source with attention given to the range per charge. Moreover, EV-neo provides performance equivalent to that of mass-market under-50cc gasoline engine motorcycles realizing a powerful ride even with cargo by leveraging the characteristics of a high-torque motor even at a low speed ride.

Under the key words of "quiet and clean" Honda held the world premier exhibition of the EV-neo concept model (under the name EVE-neo) at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show in 2009 as one of Honda's new-generation personal mobility products which will contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society while transporting people and cargo. The mass-market model of EV-neo is currently under development.

Honda will continue providing products with excellent environmental performance to more customers in order to contribute to global CO2 emission reduction efforts.

New 2011 Odyssey Spyshots

2011 Honda Odyssey

We've seen the concept at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, but now one of our readers caught an early pre-production model with his iPhone camera. In order to protect our location in hopes of getting better photos, we're keeping the location secret – but the pictures were snapped here in the U.S.

As you can see, Honda is keeping the production version very close to the concept – so there is no question as to what the photographs are. The new Odyssey was engineered and designed in the U.S., and will be built in Alabama.

Watch for the new Odyssey to debut this coming fall.

Brenda Priddy & Company


See spy shots, click here: http://vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=895819

Honda to add 400 jobs in Ontario

Honda Canada Inc. announced plans Tuesday to add a second production shift to its Plant 2 facility in Alliston, Ont. — a move that would create 400 jobs in 2011.

The second shift, to be added early next year, will allow Honda to boost production to 600 vehicles a day from the current 400.

The Plant 2 assembly line produces the Honda Civic sedan, Acura MDX sport utility vehicle and Acura ZDX crossover. The company also makes the Honda Civic coupe and sedan, as well as the Canadian-exclusive Acura CSX luxury compact sedan, at its Plant 1 facility and produces engines at another plant in Alliston.

Just over half of the Honda and Acura vehicles sold in Canada last year were made in Alliston.

"We are pleased to be making this announcement as the Canadian economy continues to show signs of recovery," said Manabu Nishimae, CEO of Honda Canada.

The latest sales figures show Honda's Canadian sales in February were up 33 per cent from a year ago.

Vehicle sales rebounding

Honda is the second automaker in a week to announce a production ramp-up in Ontario. GM Canada said last Friday it will recall about 885 workers at Ontario plants this year to build more Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossover SUVs.

GM said it will recall about 600 laid-off workers at its Oshawa assembly plant, moving to three shifts from two in October.

All 127 laid-off employees at GM's CAMI plant in Ingersoll will be recalled next week and the company will recall 158 employees laid off from plants at other plants in Windsor, St. Catharines and Woodstock.

It isn't just Canadian auto sales that are rebounding.

A report from Scotia Economics says global auto sales in February surged 26 per cent from a year ago. That's the fifth straight month of double-digit gains.

The report estimates that North American auto production will gear up to an annual rate of 11.5 million units in the second quarter, up from 11 million units in the previous two quarters.

Source; http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/03/30/honda-second-shift.html#ixzz0jfwH0xgY

Pioneer: Honda Motor Completed Payment For New Share Buy

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Pioneer Corp. (6773.TO) said Tuesday that Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) has completed payment of around Y2.50 billion for new shares in the electronics company.

Pioneer issued 14.7 million new shares to Honda for Y170 per share. The company said it plans to use the capital to develop new in-vehicle electronics products.

With a 4.5% stake, Honda is now one of the leading shareholders in Pioneer. Sharp Corp. (6753.TO), which holds 9.19%, is the company's largest shareholder.

Pioneer originally announced the share issue plan in April 2009, but postponed it a number of times as it said it wanted to give other potential investors the same offer terms as Honda.

Source;
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100323-700837.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

CR-Z Shatters Sales Target in First Month

By MARIKO SANCHANTA And HIROYUKI KACHI

As Toyota Motor Co. attempts to rebuild its reputation around the world, Honda Motor Co. on Wednesday said orders for its new hybrid sports car exceeded its forecast by 10 times, quietly stealing the march from its main Japanese rival.

Honda Motor Co. unveiled its CR-Z model in Japan roughly a month ago, making it the first mass-market hybrid sports car to hit dealerships. The company said cumulative orders for the car had exceeded 10,000 vehicles, far surpassing its monthly sales target of 1,000 vehicles.

Japan's second-largest car maker plans to introduce the model in the U.S. and Europe after June, with a combined annual sales target of 40,000 to 50,000 in the three markets.

The move comes as Honda has quietly benefited from its chief rival's woes. Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles world-wide, denting consumer confidence in its brand in the U.S., its biggest market. Though Honda has publicly said that it wouldn't offer special incentives for drivers to buy its cars over Toyota's – unlike U.S. rival Ford Motor Co. – its brand has steadily gained more fans over the past few months. In ALG's Spring 2010 Automotive Consumer Attitudes Survey, Toyota fell from first to sixth place in its perceived quality score, and Honda jumped to first place with a score of 83.2, followed by Nissan Motor.

"If [Honda] can gain sales, they are going to promote the brand at the expense of Toyota. They are not blind to the situation," said Chris Richter, automotive analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. Honda is the second-largest hybrid car maker by volume after Toyota, and its Insight hybrid car was the first mass-produced hybrid automobile sold in the U.S.

Honda's new CR-Z is the successor to its Honda Civic CRX, a two-seater coupe that was introduced in 1984. In Japan, the CR-Z costs 2,498,000 yen ($27,630) for the high-end model. Honda said 90% of the orders had been placed by men, with most purchasers in their 30s and 40s. Honda has nearly reached its domestic annual sales goal of 12,000 in just under a month.
Still, Honda has a long way to go to catch up with the popularity of Toyota's Prius hybrid vehicle, which is still the best-selling car in Japan. More than 27,000 Priuses were sold in February, making the Prius the best-selling model for the 10th straight month, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

"It might be too small for Americans," said Mr. Richter, referring to the fact that the North American model of the CR-Z will only have two seats. "The Prius is a bona fide family car."

Honda expects net profit to soar 93% to 265 billion yen in the current fiscal year ending March 31. The company said Tuesday that it expects to sell around 100,000 units a year in India and Thailand of a new, low-priced model slated for launch in 2011. The new small car will be priced around 500,000 rupees ($11,000) and based on popular four-door Fit model.

Source;
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703312504575141221683837004.html?mod=WSJ_auto_IndustryCollection

2011 Honda Odyssey Spyshot

Another nice Burlapp find, I knew it would only be a matter of time before these surfaced. Looks almost exactly like the concept....
Source;
http://www.burlappcars.com/2010/03/2011-honda-odyssey.html

Asimo lost over 100lbs in New P4 Design 13 Years in the Making

Honda’s Asimo is probably the world’s most famous humanoid robot. The company today leaked the first technical details and pictures of the fourth version of Asimo, the P4. And the new and improved Asimo, which took 13 years for Honda to develop (P3 was unveiled in 1997), looks much more elegant and human astronaut-like than the previous models.

Standing 160cm tall, Asimo is probably only second in height to “tower robot” Tsutenkaku. P4 is as tall as P3, but Honda managed to reduce his weight from 130kg to 80kg. He now has 34 joints (two more joints in each hand than P3) and is said to be able to dance better than his predecessors (“dancing” was always one of Asimo’s special skills).

Source;
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/23/p4-honda’s-asimo-humanoid-gets-a-re-design-after-13-years/