Photos of US early-MMC Civic INTERIOR

In the U.S., the 9Gen Civic had a stormy introduction. While it managed to achieve best seller in its class, its interior, especially in the base models, had been criticized by many quarters, with the enthusiasts and Honda fans/owners being some of the loudest. While some have tried to defend the Civic, often by using the fact that it is a best-seller, the fact that AHM will launch an MMC for the 9Gen Civic this month proves that even Honda feels that some of the criticisms are at the very least, warranted. 

In our TOV forums yesterday, member 'Farage1' posted two high-resolution photos of what looks to be the dashboard of the MMC Civic (the photos are at the bottom of this article). While not conclusive, another forumer listed down a list of differences he observed, which should provide a useful starting point for anyone looking for the changes to the dashboard. The observations below are from TOV forumer 'atomiclightbulb'.

(1) Center stack: In the '12 model, Audio/Nav and HVAC are placed on different tiers. HVAC in the '12 is recessed slightly. In the '13 model, Audio/Nav and HVAC are part of one continuous surface, separated by a chrome strip right below the hazard/emergency lights button. This new design is akin to the 8G Civic.

(2) The black plastic bezel that surrounds HVAC/Audio controls continues on the left side of the steering column, making the driver area of the dash appear continuous.

(3) HVAC controls are revised. Button placement is slightly different and fan knob is bigger now.

(4) Dash panel geometry repaired. Starting from the top, the dash piece that goes over the digital speedometer appears to be a continuous piece that stretches all the way to the end of the passenger side part of the dash. In the '12 model, there is a cut line that seems a bit odd between the digital speedometer panel and the passenger side airbag panel. In the '12 model, the dash piece that extends from the top of the tachometer cluster and into the passenger side of the car is changed. The tach cluster plastic now ends where the center stack plastic ends. The passenger gets a soft touch panel on their side.

(5) Chrome trim around vents.

Honda Malaysia to establish R&Development center

Honda Malaysia will set up an R&D center in Malaysia to do development for new models for the local market. This center will be the fourth in the Asia region after HRT in Thailand. The center will be located in Pegoh industrial area of Melaka together with the assembly plant there. 

All these while, Honda Malaysia had to depend on HRT for any special requirements for models. In numerous cases when Honda Malaysia wanted a special model that HRT has not developed, Honda Malaysia had to source for it through a labourous process, by matching specifications of models in overseas market to local requirements. Often this can lead to slight mis-matches and in occassions, even cases of over-specification. 

A case in point is the current Honda Jazz Hybrid which is imported from Japan but is a variant spec'ed for the Europe market. This 'CBU Jazz Hybrid' has slight mis-matches against models specifically developed for ASEAN/Malaysia by HRT. An example is the location of the windscreen wiper and headlight/turn-signal stalks which are reversed in positions on the steering wheel. The fuel consumption readout on the multi-information display is also in units of litre/100km instead of km/l which is the unit used here. Then, the Jazz Hybrid is also a 'glitch' in terms of features, being better equipped than the Civic for e.g., with side and curtain airbags. This 'anomaly' has been resolved by the launch of the locally assembled Jazz Hybrid which now features only front dual airbags plus things like 'correct' location of the windscreen wiper/headlight stalks amongst other things.

In another example, when Honda Malaysia got permission to launch the FD2 Civic Type-R here a few years ago they had to develop some contents locally, like the boot tray cover. They could not depend on HRT as the FD2R was not authorized as an ASEAN model, only for Malaysia on a special case basis. It fell to the local product planning team to do the development, a task they are really not equipped to do. In that case however, they did a good job with the constraints they had to work with. 

The establishment of this R&D center will ensure situations like this will not happen. Other crucial functions of the R&D center also includes working with local suppliers to develop more local contents for calls assembled in Malaysia, to take advantage of the local tax laws for local versus important contents and thus to reduce cost and keep prices competitive.

'Why Proton ?'

This was the question I had for Honda Malaysia in an informal chit chat recently. The announcement of the Honda-Proton 'collaboration' recently had caused a lot of talk and debate in the Honda enthusiast circle. The main question was why of all partners, Honda chose Proton.

In the first place, I was told that what was announced, as far as Honda's side is concerned, is an agreement to do a feasibility study for joint developments in the future. As far as Honda is concerned, this was the only thing that was committed. So despite what may be read from the announcements, the feasibility study is what will happen but beyond that, nothing has been agreed upon. For all we know, what comes out of the study may well be an echo of that famous song let's call the whole thing off !

As for my guess that a 'Proton Brio' might well be in the works, the response was that Proton's Tanjung Malim plant is an interesting prospect for something in the future. Brio ? There was a smile and a look which suggests "well, what do you think ?"

Automotive Industry Timeline for Malaysia

Malaysian automotive stalwart Nick Gomez has published a "Malaysian Automotive Industry Timeline" on his facebook. This article looks at the evolution of the automobile industry in Malaysia, starting from 1926 when the Ford Motor company first set up office in Singapore to supply Malaysia as well. This quickly evolved into the vibrant automotive industry of both countries today. Nick's work can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/notes/nicholas-gomez/malaysian-automotive-industry-timeline/10151368147943714 and contains a wealth of information especially for those interested to know the past and current state of the automotive industry in Malaysia.

9Gen Civic MMC now available in US dealer's websites

The early MMC for the 9Gen Civic, known in the U.S. as the '2013 Civic' is almost on us. On some dealer's websites in the U.S., one can already 'build' (i.e. select options) the car one is interested in buying. And the '2013 Civic' is now already available for building. This also gives us an early 'sneak peek' at the new 2013 Civic, eventhough in CG form only. The photos below are captured by one TOV forumer from the 'Benson Honda' dealer website and offers us an almost complete look at the exterior of the MMC 2013 Civic. Of special mention are the new front grille and bumper design plus the new tail-lights.

TOV is back online

Just in case any readers are not aware, Temple of VTEC is now back up online. All our resources including the forum is now available. The cause of the outage was due to a hard-disk problem and which has now been replaced. We thank you for your kind patience and support.

Temporary outage of TOV

Regular readers will know by now that our main Temple of VTEC site has been down for the better part of the day. This is due to a hard-disk problem. The problem has been resolved and we are now going to restore the server. TOV will be back up again very soon. This outage did not affect Temple of VTEC Asia or TOVA. We thank our readers for your patience and support.