2012 Honda FIT Shuttle Late Honda car debut turns into hot event

Not for us in North America.... yet....
Honda headquarters is sweltering, executives are without ties and reporters are fanning themselves in a scene illustrative of the nation's struggle to conserve electricity since March 11, when the massive earthquake and tsunami sent the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into meltdown.

The scene unfolded as Honda Motor Co. launched the Fit Shuttle station wagon, including hybrid versions, for the domestic market Thursday — three months later than planned — another sign of the disaster's widespread impact.

The quake and tsunami destroyed Honda's parts suppliers, dealers and design facility in the Tohoku region.

Still, President Takanobu Ito was relieved the company had come this far.

"It was a real tough three months for us," he told reporters, wearing a casual beige jacket and no tie instead of his usual dark suits.

Cool Biz, the annual practice of allowing less formal attire to be worn in the office during the summer, is finally being embraced in a big way in the name of saving power. Now dubbed Super Cool Biz, some employees are even being encouraged to wear Aloha shirts and shorts.

Although no Honda executives were seen in shorts and their shirts were relatively staid, the nuclear crisis hung like a cloud over the event.

Tokyo-based Honda's invitation to the product launch — one of the first since March 11 — had warned that thermostats will be set at 28 degrees and that executives would be dressed in Cool Biz attire.

In addition to the Fukushima No. 1 crisis, which is expected to take years to resolve, another power plant was shut down months later over safety fears, causing the government to pressure companies and consumers to cut back on power use.

Automakers, a pillar of the economy, are under great pressure to cut power use 15 percent.
Autoworkers are producing cars on weekends and will instead take Thursdays and Fridays off for the next three months starting in July to reduce the load on power companies and avoid blackouts during peak demand periods.

Honda has said vehicle production in Japan will return to predisaster levels by the end of this month, and global production in August or September.

All orders for the Fit Shuttle will be delivered in two months' time, said Sho Minekawa, the executive in charge of Japan sales. There are no plans to offer the model overseas so far.

"We are finally able to introduce this product," he said. "We apologize to all those who have been waiting."

The Fit Shuttle, which comes as a hybrid (starting at ¥1.81 million) and with a gasoline engine (starting at ¥1.61 million), delivers the same mileage as the smaller Fit hatchback, according to Honda.

The hybrid version delivers 30 km per liter, or about 70 mpg, under Japanese test conditions, it said.

Honda is expecting its profit for the fiscal year through next March to plunge 63.5 percent to ¥195 billion from the previous year because of parts shortages and other disaster woes.

The maker of the Civic sedan and Odyssey minivan was battered by the cost of fixing damaged property and equipment, higher raw material costs, the strong yen and research expenses related to future products, such as environmental technology. Honda's global vehicle sales for the current fiscal year are projected to drop 6 percent on year to 3.3 million vehicles.

Honda to hire 1,000 temps
Kyodo
Honda Motor Co. will hire about 1,000 term employees at domestic plants, including in Saitama and Mie prefectures, during the second half of fiscal 2011 to cope with increased production expected from October to March, company sources said Thursday.

Honda is taking the measure because production is recovering from the March 11 catastrophe more quickly than anticipated and is expected to return to near normal by late June, they said.

The automaker will therefore withdraw its earlier plan set in April to gradually reduce the approximately 600 term employees at the plant in Saitama to zero by the end of September.

Honda will renew contracts of term employees if they want to do so, even for those whose employment contracts have already expired, they said.

Source;
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110617a1.html

Honda Freed “premium compact MPV” launched: RM112,980 in Malaysia

This would do well here, 6X seater, looks like power sliding doors, seats fold up in the 3rd row like the Element....what's not to like?
Honda Malaysia has launched the Freed, which the company describes as a “premium compact MPV” in a new market segment. The “premium” slant is meant to distance this seven-seater from rivals’ compact MPVs, and the Freed’s price of RM112,980 (OTR with insurance) backs up the positioning – it’s costlier than the Nissan Grand Livina 1.8 and the much larger Toyota Innova, for instance.

The Freed has a unique trump card however – automatic sliding doors that can be operated from the key fob (and from within the car, of course). These doors come with anti-pinch sensors and open to a gap of 600 mm. Honda also points out the low 410 mm height from the ground to the Freed’s floor; this plus grip handles enable easy access for children and the elderly, it says.

The doors open to a “walkthrough cabin” that has four “captain chairs” for the first two rows and third row seats that fold up sideways, like in old scool 4X4s. Up front is a dual layer dashboard with the instrument binnacle situated ahead of the driver. Everything else is in the middle – an aftermarket 2-DIN Alpine stereo with USB port, a chunky gearknob and the air-con controls. The parking brake is a foot brake. Safety kit wise, the Freed comes with dual airbags, ABS with EBD, Brake Assist and “neck-shock mitigation seat” – the latter basically reduces whiplash injury in an accident, although Honda’s term for it sounds very bombastic.

The Freed sits on the Jazz/City platform, although its 2,740 mm wheelbase is quite a bit longer than the City’s 2,550 mm. The wheelbase is actually 140 mm longer than the Grand Livina’s although the Nissan is longer overall. The drivetrain is similar to the what we’re familiar with in the City – a 1.5-litre single-cam i-VTEC paired to five-speed automatic. For this application, the gear ratios are shorter and the 116 bhp/146 Nm engine makes 2 bhp less and 1 Nm more than the City. The steering is EPS, suspension consists of MacPherson struts up front and torsion beam at the rear, while the brakes are front discs and rear drums.

We’ve already driven the Freed and visited the Indonesian plant where it rolls out from, and our impressions and verdict will be coming your way soon. For the meantime, check out the live images from this morning’s launch.

Source;
http://paultan.org/2010/04/22/honda-freed-premium-compact-mpv-launched-rm112980/

Honda Malaysia: Honda Freed to be launched in Q2 2010

This would fill a void left by the 1995-1998 (small) Honda Odyssey....

I knew this MPV was coming to Malaysia the moment Honda announced that it would be building it in Honda Prospect Motor Indonesia. And Honda has just announced that the Freed is 100% coming to Malaysia, set for a launch in Q2 this year to be exact. It will come in as a CBU import from Indonesia.

“Since its official launch in Japan in 2008, Freed has been well received in the Asia region including Indonesia and Thailand. It later garnered great anticipation in Malaysia in 2009. Therefore, we are excited to inform all that Honda Malaysia will be bringing in the Freed onto Malaysian shores in the second quarter of this year,” said Mr. Toru Takahashi, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia.

The Honda Freed is the latest and probably the longest wheelbase addition to the Global Small Platform which underpins cars such as the Honda Jazz. There are various seating configurations – a 5-seater 2-3 config as well as triple row configs such as 2-3-3, 2-2-3 with individual 2nd row seats, and 2-2-2 with individual seats for everyone. We’ll have to wait until the launch to find out what kind of seat configuration we’ll get.

The Freed is a B-segment MPV positioned below the Honda Stream but it has some unique features that most of its B-segment competitors do not have, such as automatic sliding doors on BOTH sides. The Freed also has a walkthrough cabin, which means the floor is flat from the front to the rear and you can walk from the front row to the rear row (hunched down of course) without having to exit the vehicle. Honda claims that the flat floor and high roof allows you to carry a 27 inch bicycle without taking off wheels or handle bars.

Source;
http://paultan.org/2010/03/01/honda-freed-to-be-launched-in-q2-2010/

A Look at Japan's 2010 Honda Odyssey

It’s been a while I haven’t been so content with Honda to write about it … Even if I had a lot of pleasure in driving Honda’s latest Civic Type R and its Mugen version, Honda’s latest line-up did not impress me much… except, maybe, their brand new Odyssey Wagon.

Design
Light-years ahead of its US cousin, the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Honda Odyssey is a magnificent wagon tailored to please young and dynamic Japanese families.

Coming with a new front bumper in complete harmony with Honda’s latest band image, which is actually coming from the FCX. Regardless of whatever angle you decide to look at Honda’s Odyssey, be it the front, rear or any other angle, our wagon’s simple lines plus its additional kit, which is only available on the Absolute version -our Test vehicle-, qualifies this family car as simple but elegant.

Interior
It seems one of Honda’s weakest points (and just as Subaru, Honda disappoints once again) is that Honda’s design team is divided in 2 groups where the staff who is working on the exterior design never ever exchange talk with the other team of designers in charge of the car’s interiors.I will even go further and say that our Odyssey interior is rough and cheap as well as giving the impression that driver-friendliness was never taken into account… Many aspects of our car’s dashboard are in-elegantly designed, difficult to access to the extent that would bother you while driving, which in my case manifested itself in hurt knees.

However, Honda offers very comfortable seat with plenty of leg space for the rear-seat passengers, as well as many little gadgets ranging from a dedicated USB port with iPod compatibility to an excellent set of different cameras helping you to better park your car and to have a better knowledge of your surroundings in narrow places.

On the Road
Here comes another surprise, yes the Honda Odyssey is not only comfortable but it is also very stable, offers flat cornering even when pushed hard, and also very accurately, for a family car, responsive to any input you may make on the steering wheel. Rest assured, the Odyssey is still a family car and not a family “Kart”, and despite its “sportiness” our wagon won’t be any match to an Audi RS6 or even to our dear old Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Wagon. But still, Honda’s sport spirit is still alive and it feels good to know that the Odyssey knows how to take a corner efficiently and smoothly.

Under the Bonnet, our Odyssey, is available in different flavors, but our test car came with a nice 2.4l DOHC i-VTEC engine offering 206PS with a 232Nm of torque and comes with DBW (Drive-By-Wire) improving greatly your driving experience. Despite being a new generation engine, I did not see much improvement when it comes to consumption, an area that I would have loved to see Honda work harder on. But well, still and depending on your driving style, you will be capable of getting 400 to 550km out of your Odyssey, but this will really depend on how heavy your right foot is.

Plus:Exterior DesignComfort
Minus:Interior Design

Conclusion:Elegant and discrete, the Odyssey is so far my favorite Japanese family car and especially wagon. Offering a comfortable interior and a comfortable driving experience, the Odyssey’s only fault is for me its in-elegant interior and its being a little bit vulgar… But if you think you can get used to it, the Odyssey is definitively a car that is worth checking, and we just can’t help praying for Honda to export this wagon to the USA where there is a desperate need of something new in order to replace the old fashioned Odyssey Mini Van.

Source;
http://www.nihoncar.com/en/review-495-2010+Honda+Odyssey+JDM.html

Honda Stream RSZ Facelift now in Malaysia

I still think this vehicle would do well here in North America....
Honda has brought in the new facelifted version of the Honda Stream RSZ. Of course being facelifted there are changes with the vehicle’s looks.

The front end has a new honeycomb design with a chrome bar going through the middle of it, similiar to the Accord Modulo grille. The bumper design is also new, and there are side skirts for the side profile. Thankfully 17 inch alloys have been provided as when the Stream first came out, the alloys were rather small compared to the rest of the car’s sporty demeanor which looked a little odd.

On the rear, the bumper now has a diffuser insert design, and there is a tailgate spoiler. The tailgate has a black garnish around the individual rear lamps. The wing mirrors now have turn signals.

Personally I feel the best change in the facelift is the addition of VSA stability control to the Stream, which is a definite plus point in raising the safety level of the Stream. A typical Stream driver who only carries full loads of 7 people during the weekends may not be used to the different vehicle dynamics and VSA may be able to catch him out of a tight spot, touch wood. Other than VSA, suspension settings have also been improved for better comfort.

On the interior you get a leather gear knob, and a leather steering wheel, both of which come with leather stitching. The rest of the interior is done up with black and red upholstery. The instrumentation panel, speedometer, air conditioning controls, and cupholders have red illumination instead of the ’standard’ Stream’s blue illumination. The styling seems extremely skewed to a certain type of young 30s buyer who has to get an MPV but still wants to stay true to his ’sporty’ heart. You know, the kind that probably wishes the turbocharged grey import Toyota Caldina GT4 comes with 7 seats instead of 5.

But performance will not match its sporty looks. Under the hood is the R18 engine similiar to the one used in the Civic 1.8 making 140 PS and 174 Nm of torque, mated to Honda’s dual-overdrive 5-speed automatic transmission.

Source (with more pics);
http://paultan.org/2009/11/07/honda-stream-rsz-facelift-now-in-malaysia/

Tokyo 2009: Honda SkyDeck, the future of the Odyssey?

Unlike the CR-Z which is nothing more than a thinly veiled preview of an upcoming production model, the Honda Skydeck remains a pure design study at this point. While most automakers would provide a full list of specifications for a concept that is nothing more than a fiberglass buck, Honda isn't bothering with even that. The only thing the automaker says about this Tokyo Motor Show star is that it's a theoretical hybrid.

The SkyDeck is a six-seat MPV with some oddball portals and interesting interior fitments. The front doors swing up Lambo style, while the rear sliders actually pop out like normal doors and drop down as they slide back, ideal for jamming against the curb.

Once inside, the first two rows of seats are cantilever mounted off of the center tunnel and the second row can slide forward and down to stow underneath the fronts. All the seats consist of a mesh material stretched between a wooden frame.

One interesting styling note is the shovel scoop grille similar to the CR-Z coupe. Is this the look of Honda models to come? We'll be asking when we visit the design center on Friday.

Source;
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/21/honda-skydeck-concept-tokyo-2009-odyssey/

Up Close with Honda's New Step Wagon

Honda announced the introduction of the all-new Step WGN. With the largest interior space in its class and first in the class with under-floor storage for third-row seats the all-new Step WGN offers more convenience than ever before and best-in-class fuel economy. The new Step WGN and Step WGN special-needs vehicle go on sale in Japan today, with the Step WGN Spada and Step WGN Spada special-needs vehicle is to debut in Japan (not here in North America) on Friday, October 23rd.

This all-new fourth generation Step WGN, featuring Honda's original low-floor, low-center-of-gravity platform, was developed around the concept of comfort for everyone and is designed to be the ultimate in comfortable minivan transportation for the entire family.

With the combination of a 2.0-liter i-VTEC engine and torque converter-equipped CVT both smooth driving and outstanding, class-leading fuel economy of 14.2km/L are achieved. Making further contributions to fuel economy are features such as ECON mode, which regulates the engine and transmission to help conserve fuel, and Eco Assist, with multiple functions that encourage fuel-efficient driving including a guidance function that gives the driver real-time feedback on the fuel-efficiency of his or her driving practices.

・ The exterior design features a dynamic square form that expresses spaciousness and comfort.
・Built on a low-floor, low-center-of-gravity package, the new Step WGN's overall length has been increased by 50mm*5 and overall height by 45mm to achieve the roomiest cabin interior in its class*1, with a cabin height of 1,395mm*6.
・ To create an enhanced feeling of freedom and spaciousness, the window area has been increased all around. The window area of the sky roof*7 is among the largest of any production vehicle in the world*8.
・ The interior design offers enhanced driving ease and ease of use for various purposes.
・ Third-row seats can be stored under the floor with a simple operation requiring a minimum of strength -a class*1 first- to help occupants make the most of the spacious interior.
・ A newly developed side-view support mirror shows road surface conditions to the front-left of the vehicle, aiding the driver when parallel parking and navigating narrow roads.
・ The all-new Step WGN features outstanding, best in class*1 fuel economy of 14.2km/L*4.
・ FWD models exceed Japanese government fuel economy standards for 2010 by 25%, while 4WD models exceed them by 20%.

All types are eligible for Japan's new preferential tax scheme for environmentally responsible vehicles (reduced automobile acquisition tax and automobile weight tax) and subsidy for environmentally responsible vehicles, introduced in April 2009.

Source;
http://www.nihoncar.com/en/news-1168-Honda+Announces+Their+All+New+Step+WGN.html

Japan's Honda Odyssey; Elysion

I've always found it interesting to see what's going on abroad with regards to different models, here's what Japans Honda Odyssey looks like. Thanks goes out to Michael Boulware for sending this our way!

Japan's 2009 Honda Stream facelift

Here's a pic of a vehicle that I know a lot of you would like to have here in North America. At one point it looked like this small 7 seater 4cyl van was on it's way, but that looks to have changed to an Accord wagon this fall.
Source;
http://www.carspyshots.net/showthread.php?t=17349