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Honda Civic Concept is your average neon green, turbocharged show stealer [w/video]

At an auto show where the hottest cars and concepts are increasingly shown off the night before the official doors even open, surprises are rare. But Honda pulled off a big one this afternoon, with a nuclear green Civic Concept that takes dead aim at the brand's naysayers. Honda "concept" cars have tended towards the literal in recent years, and never has that been more exciting than with this coupe. The prelude to the tenth-generation Civic has a face that fits in well enough with the company's current lineup, but the rest of the bodywork feels far more JDM-inspired. The sides are complex without being too busy, and the bold graphic elements, especially the wraparound taillight, seem punctuate the mass. You might not dig the green meanie as much as we do, but if you're a Honda fan (even lapsed) the performance news should have you high-fiving your nearest bro. To start, Honda has confirmed that this Civic will be the first in the US to incorporate turbocharged VTEC engines. The turbo'd 1.5-liter four will get hooked up to both a six-speed manual and a CVT. Civic is also going to get a bodystyle that Honda has neglected in our country for too long: the five-door hatchback. A moment of silence, please... Of course sedans and coupes will be part of the mix, too. But perhaps the most exciting news for lead-footed fan boys will be the inclusion of both a Civic Si and the Nurburgring-champion Civic Type R for our market. We'd both hoped and suspected that the Type R might make the leap to North America, and Honda hasn't disappointed. The gen-ten Civic will go on sale in the US this fall, though no specifics have yet been offered about which variants will be first and last. Stay tuned. Honda Debuts Sportiest Civic Design in Brand History with 10th-Generation Civic Concept at New York International Auto Show - 10th-generation, 2016 model year Civic focuses on sporty, fun-to-drive dynamics - Civic lineup to include Sedan, Coupe, and 5-door Hatchback body types, as well as Si and Type-R versions - First Honda model to apply new VTEC® Turbo engines in North America Civic, America's most popular small car is designed, developed and produced in North America Today Honda unveiled its ultra-sporty Civic Concept at the New York International Auto Show as the brand prepares to launch its completely reimagined 10th-Generation Civic models beginning this fall.

Former Honda CEOs chide current boss about quality

Taking charge of a major corporation will never be without its challenges, and one of those - as Honda CEO Takanobu Ito is finding out - is filling the big shoes of those that came before. Ito's predecessors are apparently not pleased with what he's doing to the company, and are wasting no time in telling him so.
According to Reuters, two former Honda chiefs have recently visited Ito (pictured above with his predecessor Takeo Fukui) to talk to him about the Japanese automaker's quality issues, which they apparently regard as eroding the company's image. Nobuhiko Kawamoto, who served as CEO from 1990-98, reportedly came to Honda headquarters in Tokyo to deliver "stern words" to Ito last month. Kawamoto's immediate successor, Hiroyuki Yoshino, reportedly met with Ito under similar circumstances earlier this year.
Kawamoto and Yoshino are part of a larger group of former Honda executives who are concerned with the declining quality of the company's products under Ito's leadership. Where Honda once focused more on quality, collaborating more closely with parts suppliers,more recently the company has, in the eyes of those former executives at least, shifted its focus to quantity and to new technologies. That's what, the report alleges, has led to Honda recalling so many of its vehicles in recent years.

Asian automakers still reluctant to use more aluminum

There's a logical progression of technology in the auto industry. We've seen it with things like carbon-ceramic brakes, which use to be the sole domain of six-figure sports cars, where they often cost as much as an entry level Toyota Corolla. Now, you can get them on a BMW M3 (they're still pricey, at $8,150). Who knows, maybe in the next four a five years, they'll be available on something like a muscle car or hot hatchback. Aluminum has had a similar progression, although it's further along, moving from the realm of Audi and Jaguar luxury sedans to Ford's most important product, the F-150. With the stuff set to arrive in such a big way on the market, we should logically expect an all-aluminum Toyota Camry or Honda Accord soon, right? Um, wrong. Reuters has a great report on what's keeping Asian manufacturers away from aluminum, and it demonstrates yet another stark philosophical difference between automakers in the east and those in the west. Of course, there's a pricing argument at play. But it's more than just the cost of aluminum sheet (shown above) versus steel. Manufacturing an aluminum car requires extensive retooling of existing factories, not to mention new relationships with suppliers and other logistical and financial nightmares. Factor that in with what Reuters calls Asian automaker's preference towards "evolutionary upgrades," and the case for an all-aluminum Accord is a difficult one. Instead, manufacturers in the east are focusing on developing even stronger steel as a means of trimming fat, although analysts question how long that practice can continue. Jeff Wang, the automotive sales director for aluminum supplier Novelis, predicts that we'll see a bump in aluminum usage from Japanese and Korean brands in the next two to three years, and that it will be driven by an influx of aluminum-based vehicles from western automakers into China. Only time will tell if he's proven right. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Sean Gallup / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Honda Hyundai Mazda Nissan Toyota Technology aluminum