The question of the 'Hot' CR-Z : the official Honda answer

The 'new' CR-Z, actually the mid-term MMC for the CR-Z was officially launched in Malaysia on February 21st last week. This is actually very fast as the MMC was launched in Japan barely a few months away. When the CR-Z was first launched here, I asked a question to Norio Tomobe-san, the LPL for the CR-Z which it seems was quite widely circulated. I asked him about the rumours of the 'hot' CR-Z which was continously making its rounds especially in the internet and on UK magazines. At that time, he gave me a 'thumbs up' which I took it to mean 'YES' and excitedly reported it. Unfortunately nothing happened at all for more than a year. To be honest, I had more or less gave up and had written Honda off for making a fake promise. 

When the MMC for the CR-Z was launched, I saw that it endowed the CR-Z with 12ps more along with a few other 'performance' upgrades. Suddenly it struck me, that I might have misinterpreted Tomobe-san's answer all along. It seems quite likely that Tomobe-san might well have been thinking about this MMC when he gave me the thumbs up, while I was actually referring to rumours of the CR-Z Type-R and such. 

So during the press conference for this MMC, I decided to ask the same question again. But this time more directly and more bluntly. And this time, instead of publishing my understanding of his answer, I took a video of him answering (and the translator's answer in english) and posted that video up so you can listen to the answer yourself and make your own judgement and interpretation of it. This time, the PA system is quite clear and I hope you can hear the answer much better.

I only video'ed what I will call the 'official Honda answer' to my question. To give you the whole picture, below is roughly the question I asked to Tomobe-san:

Firstly, congratulations to Honda for launching this 'new' CR-Z MMC. It is much needed to help ensure the continued success of the CR-Z here in Malaysia (Asia).

Ever since the CR-Z was launched a few years ago, there have been incessant talks and rumours about a 'hotter' version, a high performance version. A couple of years ago, the U.K. magazines Autocar and Auto Express published articles stating Honda officially confirms that a hot high performance version of the CR-Z is being developed and will be launched soon. Auto Express claims that a CR-Z Type-R will debut at the end of 2011 and as we all know, nothing happened at all. When the CR-Z was launched here in Malaysia, I also asked the same question directly to you, Tomobe-san, to which you also confirmed the rumour. So my question to you now is this : is this 'new' CR-Z MMC that 'hotter version' ? Or NOT ?

The video of Tomobe-san's answer is below. An additional info which is relevant to this answer is that I have been told that as R&D engineers goes, Tomobe-san is very senior in the organization and thus well respected and very influential. So at one time it was suggested to me that whatever Tomobe-san wishes to do, management typically lets him do it.

So do your own interpretation from the video and we welcome you to share and discuss it here.