Automotif Vaganza: September 2013

Coming Soon: New Honda Odyssey to be launched this fall

26 September 2013 - Honda Japan has published on the website of Honda the information on "Odyssey" that will be launched in the fall. It inherits the DNA of the preceding models which have created a new segment of multipurpose passenger car when it was first launched in 1995. The new Odyssey, in its fifth generation, aims to deliver a new era of "comfortable moving space".

By using an ultra-low-floor platform, along with the exciting H design styling, it delivers spaciousness and comfortable space far beyond the traditional MPVs, not forgetting the high level of driving performance and exhilarating drive associated with every model. In addition, the adoption of new Earthdreams power train achieves a powerful and fuel-efficient drive.

The most significant change would be the new sliding doors, which hints that the new Odyssey is expected to fulfill the needs of buyers of both the Odyssey and Elysion. This means that the latter is likely to be discontinued in the near future. The engine specifications are yet to be released, and we expect more information soon. Family movers, stay tuned!

Click the link for more information: http://www.honda.co.jp/ODYSSEY/new/

Exhibition Overview for Round 15 Japan Grand Prix 2013 FIA F1 World Championship Series

From October 10 to 13, Round 15 Japan Grand Prix 2013 FIA F1 World Championship at Suzuka Circuit , Honda will exhibit the F1 cars of yesteryears at the Honda booth. To Honda, F1 has always represented a symbol of the spirit of challenge and passion for motor sports and this is in line with Honda rejoining F1 racing in 2015.

1965 RA272

1990 MP 4/5B

2006 RA106

The race cars on display includes the "Honda RA272", the first F1 machine which mounted the first F1 challenge, the "McLaren Honda MP4/5B", from the second period which gave Honda the 69 victories and the "Honda RA106", which marked Honda's return to F1 with a race victory in 2006 after 8 years of absence. These three machines symbolized each period of Honda's participation in F1.

In addition, Honda also invited Mr. Satoru Nakajima and Aguri Suzuki for the "Honda F1 talk show". Catch the exhibits of these Honda racers at the Japanese GP if you are there!

■ Exhibition car (planned)

1965 Honda RA272

Richie Ginther won the Mexico GP, the final round of the F1 World Championship in 1965, and brought Honda its first F1 victory. He led the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix from start to finish, and made the RA272 the first Japanese car to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

1990 McLaren Honda MP4/5B

MP4 / 5 machine had a naturally aspirated V-10 cylinder engine following FIA regulation changes and Ayrton Senna won his second drivers 'championship along with Honda winning the Constructors' title for three consecutive years.

2006 Honda RA106

In 2006, Jenson Button won the Hungary GP with the RA106, a machine Honda produced as a works' team.

Honda Unveils Honda Mobilio Prototype at Indonesia International Motor Show

Honda Unveils Honda Mobilio Prototype at Indonesia International Motor Show, a New Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) for Asian Markets

Source: Honda Press Release

JAKARTA, Indonesia, September 19, 2013 - P.T. Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), Honda's automobile manufacturing and sales joint venture in Indonesia, today exhibited the world premiere of a prototype of Honda Mobilio, the new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) developed exclusively for Asian markets, at the 21st Indonesia International Motor Show held in Jakarta, Indonesia from September 19 through 29, 2013. Other Honda vehicles on display include the Brio Satya, which will qualify for the Low Cost Green Car (LCGC) program implemented by the Indonesian government.

: Honda Mobilio prototype

: Brio Satya

The Honda Mobilio will be Honda's first model to be introduced in the lower priced MPV category, which is the best-selling category in the automobile market in Indonesia. Honda developed this model based on the research conducted in Indonesia regarding local road and weather conditions, and customer needs. While offering a spacious cabin space with a three row seat configuration for seven occupants, the Honda Mobilio features a compact-sized body fitting the general size of parking spaces in Indonesia which are of less than 4.4 m in length. Moreover, taking local road surface conditions into consideration, the Honda Mobilio features a ground clearance as high as 185mm, which is equivalent to the ground clearance of SUVs while achieving nimble driving performance. Equipped with a 1.5L i-VTEC™ 4-cylinder gasoline engine, the Honda Mobilio will go on sales realizing both excellent driving performance and fuel economy. Production will be at the second plant of HPM which will become operational in January 2014 in the Karawang region of Indonesia.

The Brio Satya, which Honda introduced on September 11, 2013 prior to the motor show, is equipped with a 1.2L i-VTEC gasoline engine, achieving more than 20 km/L low fuel economy, which will qualify for LCGC program. This model will also be produced locally at the Karawang plant of HPM, realizing local content as high as 85%. To coincide with the production of the Brio Satya, HPM will expand the annual production capacity of its existing plant from the current 70,000 units to 80,000 units. Combined with the capacity of the second plant, which will become operational in early 2014, the overall annual production capacity of HPM will reach 200,000 units.

In addition to these new models, HPM exhibited the next-generation super sports model NSX Concept, as well as the new Brio Sports (1.3L), a successor model to the Thai-made Brio which became the best-selling vehicle in its class with sales of approximately 15,000 units* in the first 12 months since August 2012 in Indonesia.

*Honda Calculations as of August 2013

Comment by Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.:

"The Honda Mobilio is the first model Honda has developed especially for the Indonesian market. Working closely with Honda operations here to study the unique needs of Indonesian customers, this Honda Mobilio will fulfill the dreams of Indonesian customers for an affordable family car featuring Honda's high standard of quality. We will continue to support the expansion of Honda business in Indonesia by introducing new products that meet the needs of our Indonesian customers."

Honda ranked 7th in the Top 10 for Global Sales in First Half of 2013

25 August 2013

Source: Focus2Move

World's car market grew 3% in first half 2013 with the top 8 brand stable in their respective positions. While Toyota's lead seems unassailable, there might be a close fight between Ford and VW as well as among Hyundai, Nissan and Honda.

Brand New Fit RS launched in Tokyo on 6 June

For the first half of 2013, Honda is in 7th with 1.947.269, 150.000 behind Nissan. Sales in June was 338,737 units and 5.0% market share. Honda is currently performing better than other Japanese brands in China. Kia is a distance 8th, about 700,000 units lower.

With the introduction of the new Accord, Fit and Fit Hybrid along with the different variants of Brio's platform. we expect Honda to put up a strong fight for 4th till the end of the year.

In the table below, the World's Top 10 Brands ranking:

Rank Jun	Rank May	Rank Ytd	Brand	Jun	I Half '13	Q3 2012	Q4 2012	Q1 2013	May 2013	Jun 2013	Ytd 2013
1	1	1	Toyota	641.168	3.880.083	10,4%	9,2%	9,5%	9,3%	9,5%	9,6%
2	2	2	Volkswagen	548.602	3.178.950	8,0%	7,7%	7,6%	7,5%	8,1%	7,6%
3	3	3	Ford	516.187	2.822.606	6,5%	6,4%	6,4%	7,4%	7,7%	7,0%
4	4	4	Chevrolet	419.349	2.375.670	6,3%	5,9%	5,6%	5,7%	6,2%	5,9%
5	5	5	Hyundai	369.051	2.177.195	5,3%	5,4%	5,1%	5,3%	5,5%	5,3%
6	6	6	Nissan	341.522	2.102.363	5,3%	4,6%	5,4%	4,8%	5,1%	5,1%
7	7	7	Honda	338.737	1.947.269	4,8%	4,3%	4,6%	4,7%	5,0%	4,8%
8	8	8	Kia	210.731	1.254.638	3,3%	3,2%	2,9%	3,1%	3,1%	3,1%
9	10	9	Renault	179.026	960.911	2,3%	2,3%	2,2%	2,2%	2,7%	2,4%
10	9	10	Fiat	157.185	919.082	2,3%	2,2%	2,1%	2,4%	2,3%	2,3%

The report provides data updated at the day of publishing.

This report was provided aggregating official registrations data from these countries: USA, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, All European Community and Efta (30 countries), Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arab, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, India, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. They are 81 countries representing 95% of global car sales.

All New Fit Official Technical Video (English)

All-New Fit and Fit Hybrid debut in Japan
All-New Fit and Fit Hybrid Achieve Class-Leading Fuel Economy

Came across many Japanese articles and brochure images?
Here's the official technical video explaining the latest Earthdream technologies in English.
Click here=> All New Fit Official Technical Video

First official video - Civic Type-R at the Nurburgring

Honda Reveal First Details of New Civic Type R

Official press release by Honda of Europe on the future new Civic Type-R

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At today’s Frankfurt Motor Show Press Conference, Manabu Nishimae, President, Honda Motor Europe revealed the first details of the hotly anticipated new Civic Type R. Powered by a direct injection turbocharged 2- litre engine, the new Civic Type R will deliver at least 280 PS.

Honda confirmed ambitions for the Civic Type R to become the fastest front wheel drive car around the infamous Nurburgring circuit in Germany. The car still faces a further 2 years of development before going on sale in 2015 however, on-track testing has already begun. “We have recently spent a week at the Nurburgring, carrying out extensive testing and we are on target, and have already set a time approaching the lap record”, said Manabu Nishimae.

A film demonstrating the impressive performance and handling of the Civic Type R development car on the Nurburgring with Gabriele Tarquini, Honda’s WTCC driver behind the wheel, was premiered during the Honda Press Conference.

Honda’s new Civic Tourer made its public debut at the show and during the Press Conference, it was confirmed that it would achieve impressively low CO₂ emissions from only 99g/km* (3,8 litres l/100km) when partnered with Honda’s 1.6 i-DTEC engine. The Civic Tourer builds on the strength of the Civic 5-Door, offering class leading boot space and practicality.

“For me, the strength of the car is the synergy of functionality, versatility, and dynamic design. As a European development team, we’re passionate and proud about what we’ve achieved”, said Adrian Killham, Large Project Leader for Civic Tourer.

(*Honda internal figures)

Tarquini Victory Seals World Championship Title for Honda Civic

Gabriele Tarquini won the Race 2 at Sonoma, California yesterday to secure the FIA World Touring Car Manufacturers Championship for Honda. This was the 19th win of his career.

Gabriele Tarquini

Honda showcased the Civic's competitive pedigree with the victory and finishes of third and fifth. Tarquini got on to a great start and took victory 2.4 seconds ahead of the second place man. Norbert Michelisz set the fastest lap in his bid for second whilst Tiago Monteiro fought hard to reach fifth after starting 8th.

“My start was like a masterpiece to get ahead of the rear wheel drive car and once ahead I just kept the pace to maintain the gap in front. It is a great victory for me and the team and a very special win for Honda,” said the experienced Italian as he mounted the victory podium. With six races left, Gabriele is still in the running for the Drivers’ Championship after moving up to second in the table.

Michelisz had to defend his position against the current Championship leader and in the process, he clearly demonstrated his talents along with the Civic's prowess. “For me and the Zengo Motorsport team a place on the podium here means so much. It is a drivers’ circuit so I am pleased to get this result. The Honda is superb and we get better and better as the season moves on so I am really looking forward to Japan and the last races of the year,” said Norbi.

Tiago Monteiro also had a strong showing at Sonoma. “I have had some bad luck days this season but when you come to this great circuit and get these results it makes everyone happy. Now we move to Suzuka where I started with the Civic last year right at the start of our development program so it will be great to see how far we have moved forward.”

As shared by Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project leader for WTCC development from Honda R & D, it had been a perfect weekend for the team. We look forward to Honda's home race at next WTCC event at Suzuka on 22 September where an additional Honda Civic WTCC will be driven in that event by Takuya Izawa!

New 9Gen Accord launched in Malaysia

The new 9th generation Honda Accord finally makes it way to Malaysia, more or less completing the launching cycle of Honda's best selling model for Asia. Launched yesterday, September 4th 2013 by Honda Malaysia, as expected for Malaysia, the line-up comprises two variants of the 2.0l type and one variant of the 2.4l type.

The 2.0l Accord uses the existing R20A 2.0l SOHC i-VTEC engine, spec'ed to deliver a max power of 155ps at 6,500rpm and max torque of 19.2kgm at 4,300rpm. The two variants differs in the equipment level and fitting, the basic being the 2.0 VTi which comes with basic biege colour fabric-based interior while the 2.0 VTi-L comes with black colour leather based interior. The 2.4 VTi-L also comes with more features and accessories.

The 2.4l Accord uses the new Honda 'Earth Dreams Technology' (often shortened to ED or sometimes also EDT) engine, an under-square 2.4l DOHC i-VTEC engine rated to deliver 175ps at 6,200rpm and 22.9kgm at 4,000rpm. Interestingly, the specifications for the same engine at the HAT (Honda Automobile Thailand or simply 'Honda Thailand') website are slightly different with the power put at 174ps and torque put at 23kgm (same rpm points). ASEAN Accords are designed/developed out of Honda's research facility in Thailand (Honda Research Thailand or HRT).

Honda's Earth Dreams Technology is their latest line-up of engines employing a series of technologies Honda has been working on exploiting over the past decade focusing on efficiency rather than performance. The two key targets are reduction in emissions (hence the use of the Earth based theme) and an improvement in fuel economy. Any power related increase will be a corollary of these two focuses. Unlike VTEC or Type-R which are more specific, ED/EDT doesn't signify a specific technological approach but rather makes use of a wide range of technologies, from straight-forward exploitation of existing techniques to reduce internal friction (e.g. use of exotic materials), to the outright implementation of technologies like the use of the Atkinson cycle instead of the normal Otto cycle and so forth. The top of the range is currently the 2.4l which is a regular Otto cycle engine in DOHC i-VTEC form and using Direct Injection, used by AHM in the 2.4l Accord for the USDM, Honda's largest and most important market. Various different variations using part of the above technologies are used in other engines in the range. The top of the range hybrid ED/EDT engine currently uses Honda's IMA-2 coupled with an Atkinson cycle engine in DOHC i-VTEC and also DI mode. These two engines are reserved for Honda's larger more important markets like the U.S. and JDM. For the 9G Accord for ASEAN, Honda has adopted the 2.4l DOHC i-VTEC port-injected ED engine (i.e. without DI).

For the transmission, Honda continues with the standard 5AT that was fitted to the outgoing 8G Accord. As before, only the 2.4l Accord comes with manual sequential override activated via 'paddle shifters' on the steering wheel. According to the 9G Accord assistant chief engineer, the adoption of the 5AT instead of the CVT for the 2.0l variants like what is done for the USDM versions is because ASEAN Accord owners values a 'fun to drive' character in their cars which the CVT do not offer.

A significant change from the 8G Accord is the use of Macpherson struts for the front suspension instead of the double wishbone which has been a feature of the Accord for around two decades. The rear suspension setup continues to be independent multi-link.

As befitting its 'premium' status, the ASEAN 9G Accord comes with a whole suite of features and accessories that is normally associated with luxury type cars. This includes reverse camera, a new 'Lane Watch' feature which is a front passenger side-mirror mounted camera which expands the field of view of the left side of the car (to the driver) when changing lanes. Givens are the standard features like power seats, dual zone air-condition, and so forth.

A feature worthy of special mention is the new Active Noise Control and Active Sound Control (ANC & ASC) systems fitted to both 2.0l and 2.4l types. This is a system whereby low frequency sound is generated and broadcasted into the internal cabin. This is an off-phase (180deg phase differential) sound with the same frequency as the exhaust. These two sounds will then cancel each other out in the cabin, effectively reducing exhaust noise to near zero. This feature was first used on the previous 8th generation Accord in the U.S. and other premium markets but left out of our ASEAN 8G Accord. But it is now in our 9G Accord and is a significant and important feature.

A host of important and worthy safety and security features adorns the new 9G Accord, with newsworthy items being the new Honda 'Lane Watch' feature mentioned above, a multi-angle reverse camera system, full dual front and side airbags, and of course the standard VSA, HSA, ABS, and EBD complement. The steering is now a 'motion adaptive' EPS system. CMBS or Collision Mitigation Brake System, a feature which detects when we are approaching the front vehicle too fast and automatically applies the brakes which is a feature of the top grade Accord in premium markets including in Thailand but is not offered in Malaysian Accords.

Below are selected photos from the launch event. The Grey/Silver Accord is the basic 2.0 VTi variant, the black is the VTi-L variant. The Modulo-fitted Tafetta White unit is the 2.4 VTi variant.