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Rumors abound over Honda's mid-engined 'Small NSX'

The "baby NSX" lately in the news has been in Honda's idea cloud since before the 2008 global financial rift. The company called it the "Small NSX" and reports said it "will really be a scaled-back version" of Acura's exotic, including the mid-engine layout and a variation of the hybrid SH-AWD. It even had a price: $50,000 to $60,000. So more than seven years on, when a series of patent images materialize for what looks like an NSX-inspired Honda sports car, it doesn't prove anything, but it fits. Motoring reports that the Small NSX will sit at the top of a lineup of three mid-engined sports cars intended for the Honda brand - but note that Motoring is based in Australia, where our Acura NSX is sold as a Honda. This Small NSX would be a "radical replacement" for the Honda S2000 that ended production in 2009. Beneath it will be a global version of the S660 roadster that could come here as an S1000 with 125 horsepower. The Civic Type R and a much sportier, reimagined CR-Z will put some long forgotten handling chops at other price points in the model mix. Motoring's sources say the Small NSX design work is, "for all intents and purposes, completed." The consistent rumor regarding engine is the 306-hp 2.0-liter turbo VTEC used in the Civic Type R. One electric motor will be in back to help move the rear wheels, two electric motors will hang on the front axle. Overall power output is put at around 400 hp, with 330 hp of that coming from the ICE, working through a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission. An aluminum frame with aluminum and carbon fiber parts will discourage heft, the final product at aiming at a weight under 3,100 pounds. Its price should be competitive with its intended target, the Porsche Cayman. The 2018 Detroit Auto Show is where we might see it, before it goes into production later that year at Honda's Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, OH. Related Video: News Source: Motoring Green Acura Honda Coupe Hybrid Performance honda nsx

Nissan Rogue gives brand rare monthly sales lead over Honda

The five top-selling brands in the automotive industry are usually Ford, Toyota, Chevy, Honda and Nissan, in that order. This lineup emerged intact when counting a year's worth of sales for 2013, and there was no reason to expect it would change at the beginning of 2014. But it did. Thanks to surging sales of its all-new Rogue, Nissan managed to pull ahead of Honda to become the fourth best-selling auto brand in January 2014, selling 81,472 units (an increase of 10.41 percent compared to January 2013) to Honda's 80,808 (a decrease of 3.96 percent).
The Rogue led the way for Nissan, contributing an additional 4,880 units in January compared to the same month last year - a 54.5-percent increase for a grand total of 13,831 units. But the Rogue had help, with the Frontier pickup adding an extra 2,307 units (an 87.9-percent increase), the Juke an extra 1,081 units (a 45.8-percent increase), the Altima an extra 1,051 units (a 4.9-percent increase) and the Maxima an additional 983 units (a 32.9-percent increase). Honda, meanwhile, was hurt by falling sales of the Accord (down 13.9 percent) and Pilot (down 7.6 percent), and stagnant sales of the Civic.
Honda, however, should take pride in the fact that it's luxury division, Acura, outsold Infiniti, Nissan's luxury division, last month - 10,823 units sold to 8,998. That margin of victory was large enough to keep the parent company of American Honda ahead of Nissan North America for the month of January.

Acura NSX production car headed for Detroit debut?

Auto Express is reporting that Honda is set to unveil the production version of its upcoming Acura NSX at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. The news comes courtesy of an unnamed "top exec" for Honda Brazil speaking at the Sao Paulo Motor Show. The concept version of the Japanese supercar is currently on display there. Interestingly enough, the same unnamed source claims the production iteration will remain aesthetically identical to the show car. You won't hear any qualms from us on that front.
Of course, the timing of the production debut is a little confusing. For starters, when Acura unveiled the concept last year, the company told the world it would be at least three years before production began. That would give the street-worthy model a 2014 or 2015 designation, the latter being cited more often in media accounts. Thus, we'll keep an eye out for the hybrid supercar in Motown, but we're going to stop short of holding our breath... it might be a while.