Launched in 2005, Honda Ridgeline was supposed to be a strong competitor to light duty truck in North America. It is indeed good looking, versatile and has plenty of cool features, but it seems it hasn’t exactly touched a string in American buyers’ hearts. Though it was the first truck to incorporate an independent rear suspension, a unibody design and a tailgate that opened both like a car door and a traditional fold down pick-up style tailgate, it has sold only 16,464 units, far below the 50,000 + units Honda hoped to sell.

So Honda decided to cut it off of their line-up for 2012. Dunno if this is the best decision to take. Maybe Honda should have investigated the reasons for which Ridgeline hasn’t met the sales expectaction and refresh the model if there is a design or performance problem. Thogh I doubt Hondas may have performance issues…

Lately, there has been a trend for automakers to recall cars due, especially, to brake issues. Though everything swirled around Toyota and people have hinted their attention on Toyota’s problems, there are some other carmakers that face recalling.
Honda has announced a recall for some 410,000 vehicle due to a defect with the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) module. According to the automaker, 344,00 Odysseys and 68,000 Elements (MY 2007-2008) are affected by the problem and owners will be notified via mail this April to take their vehicles into dealers.

The issue with the VSA results in a softening sensation through brake pedal and a longer pedal travel that requires owners to apply more pressure to bring their vehicles to a halt. The condition worsens over time as the stability control system lets a small amount of air into the braking system.

The new Honda CR-Z has only been on sale in Japan for two weeks, and already the automaker has received over 7,000 orders for the small hybrid. This represents about 60 percent of the 12,000 units that Honda anticipated to sell domestically in the hatch’s first year of production. If this trend continues, Honda may have to ramp up production of the CR-Z in Japan to meet the high demand.

The CR-Z’s fortunes in other markets will be every bit as interesting to watch, of course. Some question whether Honda’s idea of a sports hybrid that takes just under 10 seconds to hit 60 miles per hour might not be what the doctor ordered, especially when paired with surprisingly disappointing fuel economy figures. Of course, that’s largely just what the online enthusiast community is saying at the moment, and not necessarily any indication of the car’s eventual marketplace success whatsoever.

We sincerely hope that the new CR-Z carries the torch in a way that does not appear to be conveyed by these early performance numbers. Either way, watching the CR-Z’s long-term sales prospects both at home and in other markets will be far more important to the model’s fortunes than an early sales boom in Japan and pre-launch online skepticism.

Honda’s popular minivan that was revealed at Chicago Auto Show can be considered the fourth generation Odyssey. There have been made some modifications to the body for better aerodynamic efficiency, namely to the roofline which is lower by 1 inch and wider by 1.4. The front and rear pillars feature a steeper rake, tapered rear cabin, and fender flares offer a sportier appearance. Wheelbase dimensions remain unchanged at 118.1 inches.

This new body design is meant to improve the fuel efficiency, which Honda promised to be achived by the new van, along with the powertrain enhancements that have been made to it. Honda’s preliminary fuel-economy estimates have the 2011 Odyssey achieving 19/28 mpg city/highway.

The 2011 Odyssey will be available for sale starting this fall.

Honda has prepared an European market CR-Z hybrid coupe which will have its premiere at next month’s Geneva International Motor Show. The biggest difference from the two-seater North American-spec CR-Z that was unveiled at the Detroit Show in January is that the European version features a 2+2 seating layout.

The only other difference concerns the standard daytime running lights (DTRLs) with eight LEDs that bring out the lower line of the headlights and are exclusive to the European model.

The CR-Z combines a 1.5-litre petrol engine with Honda’s IMA parallel hybrid system and for the first time in a series production hybrid, a 6-speed manual gearbox that transfers power to the front-wheels.

The Japanese automaker did not disclose output or performance figures for the Euro CR-Z, but we assume that petrol-electric hybrid system will deliver the same combined output of 122 HP at 6,000 rpm and 128 lb-ft. of torque from 1,000 to 1,500 rpm as the NA spec model.

According to Honda, the Euro CR-Z achieves an average fuel consumption of 5.0lt/100km in the European cycle and emits 117 g/km of CO2.

Like its North American sibling, the Euro CR-Z is fitted with 3-Mode Drive System that allows drivers to alter the responses of the throttle, steering, idle stop timing, climate control and the level of assistance provided by the IMA system.

The CR-Z will go on sale across Europe in the summer of 2010 with prices to be announced at the Geneva motor show.

After all the flurry with Toyota’s sticking pedal and their recall for 8 models worldwide, it’s time for Honda to join the club and recall Jazz over a power switch defect that could cause a fire, by allowing water to enter the power window switch. A total of 646,000 cars will be called in globally to fix this switch defect. This includes Jazz/Fit models built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and India. To these figures, Honda includes also 27,000 City models in Asia.

However, there is good news in all this nuisance: Honda Siel Cars India said that India will not be a part of the global vehicle recall, because the Jazz that is being sold in India is a second generation vehicle, which is not a part of the global recall. The official said the Jazz that is being recalled globally is the previous generation model.

There have been reported three cases of fires due to the defect – two in the US and one in South Africa. The latter had a sad ending, as a two-year-old  girl was killed in Cape Town when the Jazz she was sleeping in caught fire.

Future seems pretty predictable: we WILL drive electric and hybrid cars and WILL stay in line at street corners with a point in our hands to charge our little zero-emissions friend like a cell phone.

Big brands have lined up with this trend and have thrown into this cruel world various proppeling combinations with tiny batteries that can develop up to 600hp.Japanese keep up with the Joneses. What else did you expect from these technology-freaks? After Honda’s plans for V-8s and rear-wheel-drive vehicles had to be cancelled due to the crisis that started in the fall of 2008, CEO Takanobu Ito confirmed that the luxury brand will get hybrid variants. Not very many details have been given so far, but rumour has it that a hybrid version of the Acura TSX sedan is planned for the 2011 model year and two other hybrid models will follow soon after.

I come to think it seriously that Fred Flinstone’s car is the perfect solution for these disquieting times: it goes on zero emission engine, it is convertible, roomy and you work out your legs too, so you won’t complain about the lack of time to go to the gym. Take notes, carmakers! I might actually trademark this idea!

You like simple, compact, sporty, Japanese cars that go for more than 50mpg? Well, aparently Honda have been trying to prove us that simple, compact, sporty Japanese cars can go up to 37mpg! And they’re tooting their own horn for this!

It is new, it looks new…new, rejected first edition Honda.  It is a new kind of hybrid, the manual six speed paired to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine belting out 122 HP and 128 lb-ft of torque at a low-low 1,000 to 1,500 RPM (123 lb-ft for the automatic CVT version).  A hybrid having all available torque at 1,000-1,500 rpm is interesting, and I would like to see how that translates into the driving experience. No production hybrid has been designed for sports in sacrifice of milage, but…37mpg highway?!?! Now I finally understand why rice-eaters go by bike!

Honda’s new SUV has a 3.5 liter V-6 engine,mated to a five-speed gearbox,making 250 horse power and 253 lb-ft of torque.A new feature is represented by the VCM : Variable Cylinder Management.It means that the engine can use all six cylinders for great power or it can use just for or three cylinders to reduce fuel-consumption.

The 4-wheel drive powertrain,bluetooth, power tailgate,lift-up hatch and the hill start assist remain just options.

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Honda’s upmarket brand, the Acura isn’t interested in making less fuel consuming vehicles and considers hybrid engines more suitable for small cars.

Despite increased public interest regarding hybrid technology and competitor Lexus; success in that area, Acura isn’t even considering developing such engines for the time being or the near future. Dick Coliver, vice-president of Acura says: “when you go into the bigger vehicles, it’s going to be very difficult. Our position is it’s better-suited for smaller cars.”

However Acura plans to introduce a diesel powered model sometime in the future, a 2.2litre 4-cilinder I-DTEC, produced by Honda. This may prove to be a bad idea, as recent studies show Americans are less enthused by diesel technology than they are by hybrids.