2007 Honda Civic Si Coupe Turbo Hondata System "fast And Furious Style" on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda scraps 2017 sales target amid concerns over quality

Honda CEO Takanobu Ito thinks that the automaker he leads needs to go back to basics to avoid continuing quality concerns. To do that, the boss is making the radical shift of entirely chucking the company's six-million vehicle annual sale targets through 2017, and there's no intention to include the goals in the next midterm plan, either, according to Bloomberg. The move comes soon after last month's announcement to set aside about $425 million to pay for recalls and slice forecasts by about 17,000 cars for the fiscal year. The complete shift from the way most automakers do business stems from the significant number of recalls from Honda last year. While the most glaring example is the Takata airbag problems affecting roughly 5.4 million of the company's vehicles in the US, that's hardly the only one. In Japan, the Fit Hybrid needed five repair campaigns in 12 months to fix various issues, and according to Bloomberg, the Vezel (similar to the HR-V in the US) has needed three. Honda also had to pay $70 million to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to submit 1,729 safety reports to the agency. The Japanese automaker has been working on ways to right the ship for months. In the wake of the Fit recalls, top executives took a three-month, 20 percent pay cut and created an independent position to monitor vehicle quality. Previous Honda CEOs have also offered stern words to Ito. The problems haven't had quite such a dire effect in the US, though. Sales in 2014 were up one percent, and January 2015 showed a year-over-year improvement of 11.5 percent

Snapshots from Acura NSX prototype run at Mid-Ohio

Acura's achingly slow showing of the new, hybrid NSX saw yet another step yesterday, as we reported late last week. A powder-blue prototype ran ahead of the open-wheelers at the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Why show the NSX Prototype at Mid-Ohio? Honda's Ohio research and development center, which has taken the lead on NSX development, is just 60 miles from the track. And as race sponsor, Honda must have figured it would give the spectators a glimpse of the new supercar it's been teasing for the better part of a decade.
With a planned launch in 2015 (special emphasis on the "planned" part, considering the NSX's history), the NSX Prototype shown here sports graphics that "speak to Acura's intention to go racing with the new NSX." That's great news for fans of endurance racing, although it remains to be seen when a motorsports program for the new NSX will get off the ground.
Take a look at the fresh gallery of images, and be sure to head over to our original Mid-Ohio post for the video footage of the NSX Prototype on track.

Minnesota tinkerer selling off 500-plus motorcycles, dirt bikes and scooters

For 25 years, Tony Joslyn's entire life has orbited around motorcycles. After getting into bikes at an early age, Joslyn turned his passion into Road Rash, a salvage house where Joslyn would buy and sell two-wheelers and their parts. He wasn't picky with his workings, either, as he has accrued motorcycles across a huge range of decades and brands. And now it's all up for sale.  Suzukis, Yamahas, Harley-Davidsons, Hondas, Kawasakis, and more from the '60s, '70s, '60s, '90s, and '00s are all currently listed on K-Bid.com. There is a variety of size, styles, colors and setups, and a press release says most of the bikes are 'complete and ready for restoration or a tuneup." For Joslyn, the collection just became too much to deal with after all these years.  "It's time to clear the herd and slow down," Joslyn said in a release. "Once it starts to feel like a job, you lose some of the joy. I'm looking forward to getting back to working a few motorcycles now and then. ... It's hard to pick a favorite out of the collection, as I am partial to all of them, but I've always enjoyed the Kawasaki 3-cylinders." The bikes are located in Clarks Grove, Minnesota, directly south of Minneapolis roughly near the Iowa border. Interested parties can visit and inspect the bikes before purchasing, and there's plenty of time to do so. Open now, the auction will close October 2, 2019.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Auto News Honda Suzuki Auctions Motorcycle honda scooter Harley-Davidson Yamaha Kawasaki