2003 Honda S2000 Base Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Sunday Drive: And now for something completely different

This past week played host to a wide assortment of automotive news, highlighted by our first drive of the 2018 Volvo XC40. The Swedish crossover is targeted at young, successful Millennials, but it offers cool styling, fun dynamics, and all of today's must-have technology, so we think it ought to appeal to a much wider swath of the automotive marketplace. From there we answer the question, "What are hard on the outside and soft on the inside?" as we take a look at the next Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV. We expect the German automaker's flagship luxury SUV to remain boxy on the outside, but the interior is going to be soft, supple, and luxurious. And then there's the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, which starts at starts at $34,290 and boasts 212 total system horsepower, 232 pound-feet of torque, 47 miles of electric driving range, and a total range of 340 miles. EPA rates it at 110 MPGe in EV mode, and 44 city/40 highway/42 combined overall. We compare it to other plug-ins like the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius Prime. And finally we have some more spy photos of the 2019 Ram 1500. It doesn't have a traditional crosshair grille, but it's got plenty of chrome and an attractive upright stance that's sure to tempt future truck buyers looking for some sophistication to go with their work gloves. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog this week to see all the automotive news that's fit to print. 2018 Volvo XC40 First Drive Review | The Masspirational crossover Mercedes-Benz G-Class gets the luxe, high-tech treatment 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid Review | It's what's on the inside that counts 2019 Ram 1500 shows chrome grille and more production parts Green Honda Mercedes-Benz RAM Volvo Technology Truck Crossover SUV Luxury Performance Sedan volvo xc40 sunday drive

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.

2014 Honda Civic priced from $18,190*, new CVT boosts city mpg

For the third consecutive model year, Honda has given its Civic lineup some substantial improvements, and with the 2014 Civic Coupe and Sedan going on sale this week, the automaker has released pricing and fuel economy numbers for its gas and non-Si models. Honda has not released any images of the 2014 Civic Sedan yet, but we got our first look at the updated Coupe last month at SEMA.
Aside from styling changes introduced on the 2013 Sedan being carried over to the 2014 Coupe, the biggest update to all 2014 Civics might be the addition of the continuously variable transmission (CVT). Fuel economy figures carry over for cars with the manual transmission, but models swapping the previous five-speed automatic for the new CVT are seeing a boost in city fuel economy by 2 mpg helping the Civic max out at 31 mpg city for the fuel-miser HF trim level.
In terms of pricing, the 2014 Civic is getting a modest price hike of $225 for the base LX models, which now start at $18,190* for the Coupe and $18,390* for the Sedan (*not including $790 for destination charges). The sedan-only HF trim level is up $175, there's a $275 price increase for the EX and EX-L Coupe and EX Sedan models and an extra $475 has been tacked on to the EX-L Sedan.