2001 Honda Odyssey Lx Mini Passenger Van 5-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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BMW tops Consumer Reports 2023 Brand Report Card

Feels like we wrote about Consumer Reports' 2022 Brand Report Car and 10 Top Picks a few weeks ago, but it was last April. So the mag is back with a ranked roster of 32 brands and 10 vehicles in four categories for your debating pleasure. Starting with the brands, last year's top three were Subaru, Mazda and BMW. This year, the Munich crew climbed two spots to win the prize thanks to "Superb road test scores and solid results in CR’s reliability and owner satisfaction surveys." Subaru narrowly fell to second, maintaining its four-year run in the top three. Mini, eighth last year, jumped five spots to get the last step on the podium. The rest of the top 10 were Lexus (up one spot from last year), Honda (down one spot from last year), Toyota (up three), Genesis (up 12), Mazda (down six), Audi (down three) and Kia (up eight). The magazine and testing outfit says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CRÂ’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." Last year's top 10 had six automakers from Japan, three from Germany (giving Mini credit for England), none from the U.S. or South Korea, and five luxury brands. This year's list counts five makes from Japan, two from Germany because Porsche fell out of the top ten, two from South Korea, still none from the U.S., and four luxury brands. Buick again ranked as the best domestic, dropping to 12th after being 11th last year. The big mover was Lincoln, its 10-place jump up to 16th attributed to better reliability from the Corsair and Nautilus. Tesla's improved overall reliability saw it climb six spots to 17th. Dodge climbed one spot to 15th. Jeep got out of the penalty box in last to come second-to-last. Land Rover fell three places into the penalty spot.  CR's top 10 vehicle models The 10 Top Picks list is practically a new list. Only two holdovers made it to 2023, those being the Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride.

Max Verstappen beats Charles Leclerc to win Austrian Grand Prix

SPIELBERG, Austria — Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix after beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a wheel-banging battle of the 21-year-olds on Sunday, subject to a Formula One stewards' enquiry. The Dutchman's victory for the second year in a row at Spielberg also dealt champions Mercedes their first defeat of the season. Verstappen seized the lead from Leclerc, who had led from pole position, two laps from the end with the dueling pair making contact into the tight uphill turn three as the crowd roared. Race stewards investigated the contact after the race, and ultimately cleared Verstappen. He crossed the line, acclaimed by thousands of orange-shirted Dutch fans at a circuit owned by Red Bull, 2.7 seconds ahead of the Monegasque. The pair were the sport's youngest ever top two. Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes, who saw their streak of 10 successive wins — eight this season — come to an end. Championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton, winner of the previous four races, finished fifth and behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Five-times world champion Hamilton remains well in front in the standings, 31 clear of Finland's Bottas after nine of 21 races. HONDA FIRST The victory was the first for a Honda-powered car since Britain's Jenson Button won in Hungary in 2006 for the Japanese manufacturer's own team, and a welcome antidote to last weekend's dull French Grand Prix. Verstappen, now with six career wins, was also the last driver to beat Mercedes — in the Mexican Grand Prix last October. "For Honda to win again here is incredible," said the youngster, who had to fight back from eighth at the end of the first lap after getting bogged down on the front row at the start. The Red Bull came into a league of its own after the pitstops with Verstappen scything through the field one car at a time and then chasing down Leclerc. "After that start, I thought the race was over," said Verstappen. "It's hard racing, otherwise we have to stay at home. If those things are not allowed in racing, then what's the point of being in Formula One," he added when asked about the summons. The Monegasque, forced wide as Verstappen went through, said he would let the stewards decide. "On the incident for me it was pretty clear in the car," he said. "I don't know what it looked like from the outside but we'll see what the decision is.

Honda adopts English as its official language in meetings worldwide

Japanese was clearly the language of operation while we visited Honda's global headquarters in Tokyo last week, as well as its newest factory and principal test track. Chief executive Takanobu Ito (pictured above) spoke to us through an interpreter. But according to the latest reports, the Japanese language is being phased out at Honda in favor of English.
This according to Bloomberg, which points out that tire manufacturer Bridgestone and rival automaker Nissan have implemented similar measures, as have Japanese retail giants Fast Retailing Co. and Rakuten Inc. Honda's shift from Japanese to English comes as part of a shift in focus from central decision-making to a more regional model, but while English has clearly emerged as the international language of business, it's no coincidence that it's also the dominant language here in America. Bloomberg points out that over the 12-month period that ended this past March, North America accounted for a massive 47 percent of Honda's revenues worldwide.