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Honda slowing US production due to ports dispute

The labor dispute that idled 29 ports on the West Coast last the weekend, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA, is about to make its effects felt on the showroom floor, according to Reuters. Honda, Toyota and Subaru have been trying to work around the labor disagreement, cutting overtime and airlifting parts to factories, but Honda says parts shortages at plants in Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, Canada, are now severe enough to impede production. The lack of transmissions and some electronic components will slow output of the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V – as well as unnamed Acuras. The three affected factories will rework their production schedules from Feb. 16-23. The ports have reopened this week, and US Labor Secretary Tom Perez has flown to San Francisco to mediate a new agreement between the 20,000 dockworkers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the terminals and shipping companies. Talks have been going on for almost nine months and the issues aren't settled; meanwhile, the West Coast ports that handle half the nation's maritime cargo and 70 percent of cargo from Asia are putting all kinds of industries on the ropes, and it's estimated to cost the economy $2 billion a day. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Acura Honda Crossover Sedan

Honda exec says US market near capacity, could hurt subprime buyers

Is there a point in the US auto industry where companies should start considering the welfare of their customers ahead of selling more cars? American Honda Executive Vice President of Sales John Mendel thinks that level exists, and we may be getting very close to it.
According to Automotive News, Mendel believes that finding more customers in the market could require pursuing subprime buyers and offering longer-term loans. However, he refuses to use those tactics. While selling models this way can improve things briefly, the strategies hurt resale prices and lower vehicle profits over time. The company won't do "stupid things in the short-term that damage the person who bought yesterday," he said to Automotive News. "It's a very, very short-term tactic especially in the subprime area."
American Honda, which combines the Acura and Honda brands, has seen market share decline from 9.7 percent to 9.1 percent through July 2014, according to Automotive News, and Autoblog's By the Numbers stats showed it posted falling sales in five of the seven months with data this year. Though, Mendel claims that was partially because the company focused on retail sales over fleets. The delays of the launches for the Honda Fit and Acura TLX likely didn't help either.

2016 Honda Civic revealed in patent drawings

Thanks to the sleuths at CivicX.com, we've now got our first glimpse at the production 2016 Honda Civic. The forum found these patent drawings from Honda, showing the next-generation Civic in both coupe and sedan body styles, and we're happy to report that the car seen here is very, very close to the concept we saw in New York earlier this month. Shortly after Honda debuted the Civic Coupe concept at the New York Auto Show, we spoke to the car's lead designer, Guy Melville-Brown, about how this bold two-door would transform into a production model. He told us the Civic should be "a halo product for Honda," and that the concept showed "elements of what we can expect from the production car." The showcar is "what a true Honda Civic should be," Melville-Brown said. Now that we see these patent drawings, a lot of that makes sense. Sure, it's all been toned down for production spec (as expected), but a lot of the bolder design cues are still present. We like the angular shape of the headlamps and front fascia, and we're glad the wraparound taillamps were left alone (on the coupe, anyway – the sedan uses a slightly different design). See all of the patent drawings in the slideshow above, and scroll down for photos and video of the showcar from New York. CivicX.com has more information, including side-by-side comparisons between the patent pictures and the bright green concept. Related Video: