Truth to be said, the third generation of the Honda Odyssey is about as exciting to look at as a bowl of cheerios. And no, adding carlashes will definitely not change our view on the Japanese minivan’s styling or rather, the lack of it. Read more »
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Honda Odyssey Wears its Carlashes to the Beach
Truth to be said, the third generation of the Honda Odyssey is about as exciting to look at as a bowl of cheerios. And no, adding carlashes will definitely not change our view on the Japanese minivan’s styling or rather, the lack of it. Read more »
Video: Honda’s CR-Z Mugen Special Driven by Fifth Gear
A few weeks ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Honda unveiled a concept study of the hybrid CR-Z prepared by Mugen’s European division.
The fettled CR-Z retained the regular model’s mechanical hardware including the IMA electric motor and the 1.5-liter gasoline engine, but the upgraded internals and the addition of a supercharger increased its performance by more than 50% over the normal model, to 200+ horsepower and 215 Nm (158.6 lb/ft).
Read more »Rising Yen won’t Hurt Nissan’s Sales, says Ghosn
Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has predicted that Japan’s second biggest carmaker will achieve its sales targets, despite the yen’s 9.6% climb over the US dollar in the past year. However Ghosn admitted that the strength of the Yen may cause problems: “The high yen is definitely a headwind. What I worry about is not just Nissan, but Japanese manufacturers losing their motivation to maintain production in Japan”. Read more »
Toyota and Honda want to Win Back Sales Share from Hyundai Sonata with New Models
Not too long ago, if someone told you that a South Korean model would challenge America’s best selling sedan, the Toyota Camry, you would have probably laughed in his or her face.
Needless to say, a lot has changed over the past few years with Hyundai and in particular its latest Sonata sedan, not only challenging, but this past May even surpassing the Camry in U.S. sales for the first time in history.
Of course, the fact that Toyota’s production capabilities were seriously affected by the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, played a significant role in Hyundai’s accomplishment.
Race-Prepped Honda Mugen CR-Z RR Concept Ready for Track Action
The almost production ready Honda Mugen CR-Z Concept wasn’t the only product from the Japanese automaker’s in-house tuning company to debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Along with the street-legal CR-Z Concept Mugen also brought along a competition version bearing the ‘RR’ moniker. The conceptual Mugen CR-Z RR sports a more dynamic aero package comprising of bespoke parts such as the wider front and rear bumpers with air-vents, side skirts, a rear diffuser and larger rear wing.
Read more »Honda Motor Company officially launched the Shuttle Fit or Jazz Wagon
Honda Motor Company officially launched the Shuttle Fit or Jazz Wagon in Japan. Remarkably, although the new launch, the Shuttle Fit has been ordered more than 7,000 units. MPV Honda Accord is offered with two options. The first version, Fit Shuttle 15x (FWD) carrying the 1.5-liter i-VTEC. This variant is claimed Honda's very fuel efficient, with a ratio of 20 km per liter. This model is priced at 1.61 million yen.
The second version, the Fit Hybrid Shuttle engined 1.3-liter i-VTEC plus IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) with fuel consumption of 30 km per liter gasoline and sold 1.81 million yen.
Honda also claimed the Shuttle as the Fit compact car that offers a spacious interior and cargo space, comfort, comfortable as the Honda Accord, even though its base is a Honda Fit or Jazz in Indonesia.
Space Shuttle cargo Fit 590 liters while the FWD FWD 546 liters. Shuttle Fit Hybrid offers 517 liters of luggage space. Both have the same cabin space.What a Tease…Honda Announces All-New 2012 CR-V on its U.S. Website
Honda is trying to build some suspense around its forthcoming, brand-new 2012 CR-V crossover by making an announcement on its U.S. market website. All we get for now is a picture of a tunnel and a press blurb that doesn’t really say much other than that Honda will be revealing the successor to the current CR-V bit by bit in the next few months. Read more »
Ford and Dodge Flop, Lexus and Honda Top JD Power’s 2011 U.S. Initial Quality Study
The results are in for JD Power’s latest 2011 U.S. Initial Quality study that looks at the first 90 days of ownership and the news is not good for Ford Motor Company. The Dearborn-based company tumbled from fifth place and highest-ranking non-luxury automaker last year to 23rd in 2011 with 116 problems per 100 vehicles. Analysts claim that Ford’s freefall is due to complaints related to the company’s onboard MyFord Touch infotainment systems.
Even worse, Dodge was placed last in the list with 137 problems per 100 cars. Scion, MINI, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Suzuki didn’t fare well either occupying the last places in the study.
Read more »Honda CR-Z Mugen: All you Need to Know about Honda’s Hottest Hybrid Yet
We’ve already shared initial information and a video on the Mugen-fettled CR-Z that Honda is about to launch at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but today, the Japanese carmaker came out with all the juicy details, as well as more photos of the sporty hybrid concept.
According to company’s European division, the CR-Z Mugen sets out to prove that hybrid cars can be exciting to drive, with the one-off special producing “Civic Type R-like performance” while also remaining true to the original, eco-friendly character of the run-of-the-mill CR-Z.
Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro explains the philosophy behind the creation of the CR-Z Mugen:
Read more »Honda Launches New Fit Shuttle Small MPV in Japan [ 46 Photos]
After briefly postponing the presentation of its all-new Fit Shuttle due to a variety of problems that arose from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Honda on Thursday officially launched its mini MPV.
While keeping the five-seat layout of the regular Fit (called Jazz in Europe), the Shuttle is longer and taller, with the extra space benefiting both the rear passengers and the cargo area.
Read more »Finally a Tumblr made for guys who are turned on by women who ride motorcycles "themotolady.com"
You didn't think I was just going to post perfectly unreal beautiful women on cafe racers and sports bikes did you? You ought to know by know I'm going to pass on them and see about the woman on the Flying Merkel straight away.A bit of everything motorcycle on http://themotolady.com/ and it's not strict on the women on bikes theme, but its about 90/10 women to men. Great site, enjoy
Brilliant advertising method by Honda
Photo found on Autowriters.com Newsletter May 2011, taken by Vancouver photographer Maurice Li http://mauriceli.com/ which I went to his Flikr page for http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauriceli/5673376660/sizes/o/in/photostream
Automotive Facebook Fans by Brand: March 2011
March was a rather subtle month without a lot of on-site fan growth ads from the automotive brands, but it was the first month a new brand returned to the United States. It’s been 27 years since Fiat has sold a car here. They returned with the Fiat 500 and I have added Fiat to this list. Like BMW, MINI and Mercedes, Fiat also has a USA-focused Facebook fan page, but like those brands I am reporting on the global brand’s Facebook fan page, but do record all of the USA-focused fan pages.
Meanwhile, Acura continued to run and promote their “Compete Like a Pro” contest for the all-new TSX Sport Wagon (as an interesting side-note, the TSX Sport Wagon is the Japanese Honda Accord wagon that everyone was hoping for back when the Honda CrossTour was announced last year causing quite an uproar on the Honda fan page.) The “Compete Like a Pro” contest is an interesting example of fan growth from marketing, CRM, and engagement.
Back in January they promoted the contest and bought some Facebook ads to support the effort creating a 23% increase in fan growth. In February, some marketing continued but most of the effort to promote the contest was done through Acura’s email communications (see image at left from a February 22 email) and there was some promotion by contestants to create interest (votes) for the contest that resulted in a 10% fan growth. As the initial surge of contestant promotion tapered, so did the fan growth, as it was only 5% in March when the contest was closing the voting.Many of us see friends in our own communities promote – ask for – votes when they do an online contest. This initial surge in friend participation comes to an end rather quickly and then near the end of the contest, the highly competitive top people in the votes make an additional request for votes, but this is a much smaller group. What we see with the Acura contest is fairly typical and shows that the biggest impact in fan growth is still advertising to promote instead of counting on organic growth. The final 5% growth in March is a normal organic fan growth so the contest was doing very little in fan growth. Of course it might of (and hopefully did for Acura) create more clicks to dot.com and engagement which were probably the primary goals of the contest.
There was very little else going on in March for the automotive brands on Facebook. Lexus saw some positive growth with the biggest bump of 22% fan growth coming from their heavy media buys around the all-new Lexus CT200h.
Note: Unfortunately I missed a month in March, a first since starting this monthly post in November of 2009. I did record the fan numbers and you can see the early fan numbers from March in this post. I never did a February 2011 report, but have all the raw data if any one wants it. Please send me an email at red335i@yahoo.com if you do.
Road Test - Honda Stream RSZ 1.8
When Practical Meets Style
Honda's people-mover, the Stream, has received updates that highlight the very useful runabout's pseudo-sporting ambitions.
When it comes to practicality, Honda has certainly proved its worth to the industry with its Stream. The second generation Stream is the Honda Stream RSZ and as you can expect from its name, it comes with the sexy RSZ body kit that adorns the Stream.
Not only has Honda created a practical Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV), the Japanese manufacturer has successfully integrated a sporty sense in it, making the car more stylish and eye-catching than its previous model.
Exterior
Styling wise, the Stream RSZ 's design seems to be derived from Honda's current design language, making it instantly recognisable as Honda's work of art.
The new facelift receives a fresh bumper, fog lights as well as grille, which places a large brand badge that sits proudly in the centre. Additionally, the 'RSZ' badge is intelligently placed on the upper right side of the wide grille that's flanked by sharply shaped headlights.
Upon seeing the car from the side, the cosmetic changes do increase the sportiness factor of the Stream. The rim now has slimmer spokes making it contemporary while giving an impression of the bigger rim look.
On the other hand, the back of the Stream RSZ resembles the Honda CR-V with new sets of transparent taillights that run up all the way to the roof. Comparing it to the previous version, this Stream RSZ also spots a brand new muscular rear bumper with a pair of slim reflectors on the bottom sides.
Exuding style that unleashes the younger side in drivers, the Honda Stream RSZ has indeed proven that practicality and elegance can merge in perfect harmony.
Interior
The new interior comes with a red motive that provides a welcome change from the dark colours of the past. The mixture of black and red fabric seats with the red threading trims prove to be ultimately comfortable, giving ample considerations to the people on-board.
However, the only set back in this aspect is that the seats aren't upholstered in leather, which can be a tad disappointing.
On the other hand, the back of the Stream RSZ resembles the Honda CR-V with new sets of transparent taillights that run up all the way to the roof. Comparing it to the previous version, this Stream RSZ also spots a brand new muscular rear bumper with a pair of slim reflectors on the bottom sides.
Exuding style that unleashes the younger side in drivers, the Honda Stream RSZ has indeed proven that practicality and elegance can merge in perfect harmony.
Interior
The new interior comes with a red motive that provides a welcome change from the dark colours of the past. The mixture of black and red fabric seats with the red threading trims prove to be ultimately comfortable, giving ample considerations to the people on-board.
However, the only set back in this aspect is that the seats aren't upholstered in leather, which can be a tad disappointing.
The leather-strapped steering wheel (with audio controls) and gear lever also have red trims on them, showcasing clearly the RSZ effect on the all-new Stream.
In addition to that, a superb sunroof also comes as standard with the new Stream - something the kids will fully appreciate while you are driving on a bright Sunday morning.
In addition to that, a superb sunroof also comes as standard with the new Stream - something the kids will fully appreciate while you are driving on a bright Sunday morning.
The cabin is roomier thanks to a slightly longer wheelbase of 20mm and redesigned sills that add a small increase in width for the first two seat rows. This additional length is wisely spent on maximising cabin space, especially in the third row, which is noticeably roomier.
Thus, the RSZ can easily swallow seven adults with ample head and legroom.
But that's not all. The practicality of the RSZ is unparalleled as it can move loads as well. With a height of 1545mm, loading and unloading of luggage or grocery bags will not be a problem. And although stowage space is barely satisfactory when all seven passengers are on-board, the luggage area increases by a few notches when the third row seats are stowed flat.
The external makeover is certainly complemented by a new interior that exudes a sense of sportiness and style without compromising space and practicality. Given its stature as an MPV, the Stream RSZ has, undoubtedly, the resources to fulfil its main responsibilities.
The Drive
On the go, the kerb weight of 1390kg does not make the RSZ a slouch. The 1.8-litre 140PS i-VTECengine is relatively powerful and the car responds to acceleration like a switch, surprising us with the sufficient power to overtake on highways.
Thus, the RSZ can easily swallow seven adults with ample head and legroom.
But that's not all. The practicality of the RSZ is unparalleled as it can move loads as well. With a height of 1545mm, loading and unloading of luggage or grocery bags will not be a problem. And although stowage space is barely satisfactory when all seven passengers are on-board, the luggage area increases by a few notches when the third row seats are stowed flat.
The external makeover is certainly complemented by a new interior that exudes a sense of sportiness and style without compromising space and practicality. Given its stature as an MPV, the Stream RSZ has, undoubtedly, the resources to fulfil its main responsibilities.
The Drive
On the go, the kerb weight of 1390kg does not make the RSZ a slouch. The 1.8-litre 140PS i-VTECengine is relatively powerful and the car responds to acceleration like a switch, surprising us with the sufficient power to overtake on highways.
Driving solo, the RSZ's acceleration is brisk and hauls itself pretty well into speeds of around 100-120km/h. Unfortunately, the electronically five-speed automatic gearbox has around half a second delay from the selection to engagement.
Nonetheless, its qualms are overwhelmed by the encouraging side of the drive. With a long wheelbase on the Stream, my assumption of the MPV attacking the corners with difficulty was wrong.
Not only did the car handle well without slipping, body roll was well controlled through the severe manoeuvring due to its lower centre of gravity.
For a car that constantly transports members of the family, it's always good to know that stability issues are almost non-existent in the Honda Stream RSZ.
Conclusion
With its 1.8-litre 140PS i-VTEC engine, the Stream RSZ continues to deliver what generations of Honda drivers have come to know and love - performance and reliability.
Although the colours of the interior can be a tad boring, the Honda Stream RSZ remains a handsome car with pleasant designs and a comfortable interior. And for a vehicle of its segment, it's simply awesome.
Nonetheless, its qualms are overwhelmed by the encouraging side of the drive. With a long wheelbase on the Stream, my assumption of the MPV attacking the corners with difficulty was wrong.
Not only did the car handle well without slipping, body roll was well controlled through the severe manoeuvring due to its lower centre of gravity.
For a car that constantly transports members of the family, it's always good to know that stability issues are almost non-existent in the Honda Stream RSZ.
Conclusion
With its 1.8-litre 140PS i-VTEC engine, the Stream RSZ continues to deliver what generations of Honda drivers have come to know and love - performance and reliability.
Although the colours of the interior can be a tad boring, the Honda Stream RSZ remains a handsome car with pleasant designs and a comfortable interior. And for a vehicle of its segment, it's simply awesome.
Honda Attempts to Add Some Swagger to Their Wagon
If the Toyota Sienna is the "Swagger Wagon", does this latest commercial for the Honda Odyssey make the Honda minivan the "Hair Band Wagon"? And what appeal would a hair band wagon have besides being capable of hauling around a couple kids and a pair of Marshall amplifiers?
Sorry Honda but this one tries to come across as absurd fun, similar to the Toyota Sienna campaign but it unfortunately misses the mark. It just falls flat. It comes across as if the ideation team looked at what their main competitor was doing and decided hey we really need some music in our ad and should make the minivan cool again. Answer: Black cat, Marshall amps, and fireworks. Hmmmm.... maybe the ad needs more spandex and a drum solo?
How it's done.
Automotive Facebook Fans by Brand: September 2010
Let’s get the big news out of the way. BMW surpassed the 2 Million fan number September 28th. On July 5th they hit 1 Million fans, so in a mere 3 months they gained over 1.1 Million fans. BMW has been on a fan rampage and finished the month promoting their secret reveal (I’m guessing it’s the new BMW 6-series.)
Hyundai saw a massive increase in fans as they nearly doubled their fans in September from 41,653 to 82,773 fans. This was done in part by some reachblock ad units I did see Hyundai run on the Facebook site. Others doing reachblock ads where Cadillac and Toyota continued to promote their safety and user story ads throughout the month of September. 
Honda worked on promoting their Honda CR-Z Hybrid, but the ad units drove consumers to the CR-Z vehicle page. Honda saw a typical 10% gain on the brand page. Unfortunately, I think they missed an opportunity to drive more fan traffic to their primary brand page. It’s interesting to note that at the end of September Honda’s luxury family member Acura decided to abandon their vehicle fan pages. It will be interesting to see if Honda makes a similar move with their product fan pages or if other brands will follow Acura’s lead here, especially as brands probably look to 2011 and 2012 as ways to increase social media efficiency as social destination effectiveness comes clear with years worth of supporting data.
MINI finished their major Facebook campaign where they gave away a MINI Countryman from their Facebook fan page. Fred Manuel Roldan Rivero from Lisbon, Portugal won the MINI Countryman and the brand shared the giveaway PR event with their fans. Overall it was a nice promotion for the Facebook fans but MINI didn’t really see any major bump in fans which I find interesting because this contest may have more to do with energizing its fans than say growing the fan base. I don’t have any of the ad units promoting the event, if there were any, but MINI only saw a mediocre 11% increase in fans in September and XXX% in August. It’s tough to judge the contest as I don’t know what MINI was trying to drive. I assume handraisers and contest entries but Facebook fan growth didn’t seem to be a goal or a goal that wasn’t met. In another notable move, Scion experienced a 34% jump that probably was due to the launch of Scion in Canada. Previously, Scion was only available in the United States. Scion launched the brand in Canada last month and one can assume the launch helped some fan growth from those to our north.
Honda Goes the Gamer Route Again, But Are They Missing the Mark?
Honda is the online gaming brand of automotive marketing. Their latest effort is part of the Honda CR-Z launch called 3-Mode Mania. The game gets its name from the three different driving modes available on the car: Sport, Normal and Econ. It's an interesting way to showcase the different driving behaviors of the vehicle, unfortunately the game play is so basic one hardly notices any difference when selecting the different modes.
The Tron-like driving path is very simple with thin red lines displaying the track and you drive what looks like a Monopoly piece car; though, there is a choice of colors to personalize the experience. I tried the game a few times and found it a bit dull since it was too simplistic and like I stated earlier the modes really didn't provide much distinction in game play.I do find it interesting though that Honda went with an online game for a 2-seat hybrid vehicle. The game for the Honda Fit made a bit more sense since the Fit did market to a younger audience, but the CR-Z seems like a third-car for empty-nesters. Unfortunately, it won't attract the former CRX fans as the CR-Z really missed the mark on being a reincarnation of that excellent, sporty 2-seater.
So my bet is the CR-Z is more likely to be bought by an over-50 demographic with a decent amount of disposible income who want a mild hybrid with a bit of a sporty feel. Personally, it was difficult just writing that last sentance because I'm still not sure who will really buy this car since it lacks decent hybrid numbers, missed the CRX reinvented crowd, and only sits 2 people without all the fun of typical topless or fast third car. I'd also guess the target consumer is not much of a gamer, unless the brand decided to focus on youth; even though, hybrids barely make a dent in the younger age groups. Therefore, the CR-Z buyers are not likely to play the online game 3-Mode Mania. Perhaps Honda should rethink doing a game every time they launch a small car and instead focus on the activities of their likely buyers. Just a thought...
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