2009 Honda Cr-v Lx on 2040-cars

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Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

Honda China struggling with high-end Accord because Chinese covet German cars, too

It's not particularly unusual to see cheap cars in China, or those with designs stolen from foreign competitors, but increasingly the best-selling vehicles there would be very recognizable to just about any auto enthusiast. There appears to be one fact of life whether looking at car buyers in Sacramento, Stuttgart or Shanghai: People who can afford to buy premium cars often look first at the Germans.
Honda recently thought that it could challenge this perceived wisdom by including a premium Accord in the ninth-generation sedan's Chinese launch last year. The market-exclusive version was priced against the Audi A4. The venture failed, miserably.
According to Automotive News China, sales for the new Accord in China are down 37 percent through May of this year. Honda's overall sales are actually up by about 11 percent there on the strength of smaller, less profitable models. However, the company is still off its forecast 19-percent rise.

2013 Honda Civic

Lather, Rinse, Repeat
On some level, it's hard to blame Honda for the strategy it took with its new-for-2012 Civic. Executives looked at the key players on the market as the model was being developed, soaked in the growing global economic malaise, and decided that if they wanted to make decent money on their small car, they'd have to find creative ways to take cost out of its build. In light of the financial crisis, consumers and critics would surely understand some belt-tightening in order to secure the company's legendary reliability, resale value and ease-of-use, right?
So Honda took a pass on expensive new technology - more complex transmissions, forced induction, active aero, and so on. And it also substituted in some cheaper interior materials, skimped on sound deadening, creature comforts and found lots of little ways to save money. Surely in a segment where the frankly ancient and moth-eaten Toyota Corolla has consistently ranked among the sales leaders, nobody would care, eh?