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2015 Civic Type R will make 'at least' 276 hp from 2.0L turbo [w/video]

Honda may not actually be showing off the production form of its upcoming Euro-only 2015 Civic Type R at the Frankfurt Motor Show this year, but it did take advantage of the focused media attention to make a pretty cool announcement. In addition to dropping a really hot video of the new Type R testing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Honda Europe president, Manabu Nishimae, gifted us with some juicy details about the coming hot hatch.
Nishimae confirmed rumors that this Type R would make use of a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, while telling us that the mill would be good for an output of "at least 280 PS." A raw conversion from PS (metric horsepower) to standard horsepower gives us a figure of about 276 hp, or very near the rumored figure of 300 galloping, front-wheeled ponies.
The company will need each ounce of output from its new 2.0-liter engine if it is to meet its stated performance target: making the Civic Type R the fastest front-wheel-drive production car around the 'Ring. Apparently this last session of testing, with World Touring Car Championship driver Gabriele Tarquini at the wheel, has already gotten Honda close to the lap record. Scroll down to read Honda's brief press release about the upcoming Type R, and, more importantly, to listen to the car as it's throttled around the track.

2015 Honda Fit production gets underway in Mexico

After two years of construction, Honda's new factory in Celaya, Mexico, has officially begun production of the all-new 2015 Fit in North America. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Honda President and CEO Takanobu Ito both attended the opening and watched the first Fit roll off the line at the $800-million plant. Later this year, Honda will add production of its new Vezel small crossover to the new facility, though the latter is expected to be marketed in North America under a new name.
The Celaya factory will specialize in building subcompact cars by employing cutting-edge tech to use less material and less energy during production. Honda is still constructing a $470-million transmission plant on the campus to build continuously variable transmissions in the second half of 2015. When it's finished, it is expected to have an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles and employ 3,200 people.
With the facility's completion, Honda now has a 1.92-million unit annual production capacity in North America, and it claims that when Celaya reaches full production, 95-percent of vehicles sold in the US will be built in North America. The new Fit has already proven quite popular in Japan, and now we will have to wait and see if North American buyers embrace it as well. The first new Fit customer cars will hit the roads later this spring, and as Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade tells Autoblog, all Fit models sold in North American will be built at the plant. Scroll down to read the full press release about the Fit and its new Mexican home.

Honda and Chrysler EV news, and talking with GM's charging ecosystem boss | Autoblog Podcast #781

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They're excited about the news of the possibility of an electric sports car being revealed for Honda's 75th anniversary, as well as the completely revamped — redesigned and renamed — Chrysler Airflow. They've been driving the Bentley Bentayga EWB, Range Rover, Toyota GR Corolla and the refreshed Buick Encore GX. We listen to a interview Greg conducted with GM's EV charging boss, Hoss Hassani. Finally, a reader is looking to help his in-laws choose an SUV, possibly a hybrid or EV, to replace a BMX X3. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast # 781 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown News Honda electric sports car could be unveiled this year Chrysler Airflow being redesigned and renamed for production Cars we're driving 2023 Bentley Bentayga EWB Azure First Edition 2023 Land Rover Range Rover SE LWB 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir Interview with Hoss Hassani, General Motors Vice President and EV Charging Ecosystem Spend my Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Green Podcasts Bentley Buick Chrysler GM Honda Land Rover Toyota Green Automakers Crossover Hatchback SUV Electric Future Vehicles Luxury Performance Sedan