Without the all-wheel-drive Ford Focus RS breathing down its neck, the front-driven Honda Civic Type R is arguably the most exciting hot hatchback you can buy nowadays in the United States. The only problem with it, however, is the starting price of $37,895 excluding freight.
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If only the turbocharged 2.0-liter VTEC Turbo engine is of interest to you, Honda Performance Development will be much obliged to sell you a K20C1 from May 1st, 2021, in the guise of a limited-edition crate engine. Intended for use in racing and off-highway applications, each motor costs $6,790, and the control package adds $2,210 to the tally for a grand total of $9,000.

In other words, the Japanese manufacturer is asking 23.75 percent of the sticker price of the Civic Type R just for the powerplant. The customer is responsible for the transmission, chassis, and pretty much everything else down to the instrument cluster, steering wheel, and the driver’s seat.

For the sake of reference, the Chevrolet Performance 350/290 Deluxe small-block V8 can be had for $3,308.55, excluding the recommended Holley 670 four-barrel carburetor. The dual-overhead cam Ford 5.0-liter Coyote V8, by comparison, costs $9,874, including the OEM control package.

“We at HPD are proud to offer Honda power in an affordable and versatile package,” said Honda Performance Development Commercial Motorsports manager John Whiteman. “Our K20C1 has won many races in club and professional series and is now available for a wide range of applications. The crate engine is part of HPD’s strategy to leverage our pinnacle expertise for the benefit of Honda fans of all ages and motorsports categories.”

Just like the Japanese hot hatchback, the direct-injected turbocharged crate engine develops 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet (400 Nm) of torque. What’s missing from the box, you may be wondering? In no particular order, customers will have to source their own flywheel, low-pressure fuel system, intercooler, and cooling system before firing up the K20C1 mill.

Only four dealers are entitled to sell this engine. These are United Speed Racing, Science of Speed, Mountune USA, and 4Piston Racing.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s second-biggest automaker by sales, Honda Motor Co, said on Friday its chief executive, Takahiro Hachigo, would step down and be replaced by Toshihiro Mibe, its head of research and development, on April 1.

Mibe, 59, who has worked with Hachigo to push through structural reforms, has been president of the R&D unit since 2019, following stints in engine development and the drive-train business after joining the company in 1987.

“We would consider using external insight or potential alliances among other actions to make decisions without hesitation,” Mibe told a news conference at which he called for Honda’s “major transformation at great speed”.

His appointment, first reported by Reuters this week, comes as Honda races to catch up in the field of all-electric cars and faces competition from new entrants and tech giants such as Tesla, Apple and Amazon.

“He has been looking into the future, a direction that Honda should be taking,” Hachigo told the conference, attributing Mibe’s expertise in environmental technology and energy and his attentiveness to changes as reasons for the choice.

Hachigo will remain on the company board, Honda said in a statement.

Traditionally known for its fuel-efficient internal-combustion engines, Honda launched its first mass-produced all-battery vehicle last August.

It has said it wants new-energy vehicles such as plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell cars to contribute two-thirds of sales by 2030.

But analysts say Honda has a lot of catching up to do with competitors, in the arena of elecrification.

“With the CEO change to Mr. Mibe, someone who is bright on electrification technology and has dealt in negotiations with global automakers, I think it is a good opportunity for Honda to accelerate electrification,” said industry analyst Takaki Nakanishi, chief executive of the Nakanishi Research Institute.

During his six years as chief executive, Hachigo sought to simplify the vehicle development process by combining some operations for cars and motorcycles.

He also slashed costs by streamlining Honda’s model line-up and consolidating factories at home and overseas.

Hachigo also expanded a partnership with General Motors Co to include cooperation in developing electric and autonomous vehicles.

To focus on zero-emission technology, Honda has said it will stop participating as an engine supplier in the FIA Formula One World Championship at the end of the 2021 season.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda has agreed to sell its only British car plant at Swindon in southern England to logistics giant Panattoni, a company spokesman said on Saturday, as the new owner reportedly plans to make a large investment at the sprawling site.

The Japanese automaker, which builds about a tenth of the 1.5 million car output in Britain, made the decision two years after it announced its intention in 2019 to cease production at its Swindon plant. The plant closer is expected to lead to 3,500 job losses.

Honda, which has been struggling in Europe, has said the closure of the plant was not related to Britain's departure from the European Union but it needed to focus activities in regions where it expects to sell most cars.Panattoni said it was making a 700 million pounds ($965 million) investment in its logistics-related development, with the aim of creating new jobs, once Honda completes decommissioning of the plant that builds its Civic hatchbacks, likely next spring, the Financial Times reported earlier.

DETROIT (AP) — Honda has plans to sell two all-electric SUVs in the U.S. for the 2024 model year, and it soon will offer hybrid gas-electric versions of its top-selling models.

The announcements Thursday come as the automaker acknowledges it has work to do to comply with emissions-reduction targets that will be coming from the Biden administration, and a California ban on sales of new internal-combustion vehicles by 2035.

Honda of America sales chief Dave Gardner told reporters one of the electric SUVs will be from the Honda brand, while the other will be an Acura. Honda will offer more details later this year, he said.

Underpinnings of the new vehicles will come from a partnership with General Motors, while the tops would be made by Honda, he said.

As part of Honda’s efforts to meet stricter emissions standards, it will reduce emissions from its internal combustion vehicles, Gardner said. Already the company has a hybrid called the Insight, as well as hybrid versions of its Accord midsize car, CR-V small SUV. Gardner said there will probably be one or two additions that he would not identify.

He conceded that Honda isn’t leading the race to electric vehicles and wouldn’t say when it will go all-electric. Honda is focused on being carbon-neutral by 2050 and is aware that President Joe Biden is focused on zero emissions, not just reducing them, he said.

“We’ve got to now focus all of our energies in this direction in order to meet timelines,” he said.

Honda has been a dominant passenger-car seller for decades but U.S. buyers are shifting toward SUVs and trucks. And it’s also a large manufacturer of internal combustion engines, Gardner said.

“We’re really good at a couple of things that seem to be going out of vogue today, so there’s no doubt that we have work to start moving quickly in the zero-emission direction,” he said.

Honda is the latest automaker to announce battery-powered vehicles that will be sold in the U.S. market. The consulting firm LMC Automotive says automakers will roll out 22 new electric vehicles this year alone.

Last year Americans bought about 260,000 vehicles, only 2% of new vehicle sales. But LMC expects the number to hit more than 680,000 in 2022, passing a million in 2023.

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Is Korea's EV battery boom about to be a battery bust?

CATL is also cooperating with global carmakers to enhance its battery technology. At the moment, it has formed an alliance with Germany's Daimler and Japan's Honda to co-develop battery technology.

Last year there was only 0.5 percentage points difference between CATL and LG Energy Solution in terms of global market share, compared to 17.1 percentage points difference in 2019, according to SNE Research.

The gap has again widened this year, with CATL accounting for 31.7 percent of the market as of February while LG Energy Solution accounted for just 19.2 percent.

March 16 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co's (7267.T) Canadian manufacturing arm will invest C$1.38 billion ($1.09 billion) over six years to upgrade its plants in Ontario as the automaker gears up to make its new hybrid SUV for the North American market.

The investment would make the facility the biggest plant in the region for the 2023 CR-V Hybrid crossover and includes equal grants of C$131.6 million from the governments of Canada and Ontario, Honda of Canada Mfg said on Wednesday.
Honda's announcement comes at a time when automakers globally have sharpened their focus on producing environmentally friendly vehicles in response to rising demand.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government sees the auto sector as a key part of its efforts to lower national carbon footprint.

Rich in key materials for electric vehicle battery production - including lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel - Canada is trying to woo battery makers to safeguard the future of its manufacturing heartland in Ontario.
"We're positioning Canada as a leader in low and zero emission vehicle manufacturing," Trudeau said at Honda's manufacturing plant in Ontario.The province is close to U.S. automakers in Michigan and Ohio, and General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Stellantis NV (STLA.MI) have all announced plans to make electric vehicles there.

As Canada's economy recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it must ensure that the "recovery is sustainable, and it creates good jobs," Trudeau said.
Honda said Ontario plant upgrades would secure thousands of jobs in Canada.The investment would also bring the Japanese automaker closer to meeting its goal of making electric and fuel cell vehicles account for 100% of all sales by 2040. read more

Having started production in 1986, Honda of Canada Mfg has the capacity to make more than 400,000 vehicles and 190,000 engines annually.

Cars are getting more and more expensive, especially with EVs on the horizon. As of January of this year, the average price of a new car was heading towards $50,000. But automakers and their respective finance companies want you to know they’re here for you. They’re going to do whatever they can to make sure that monthly payment looks attractive and affordable, and that’s why they’ve been pushing loan terms farther out. Honda is the latest automaker to jump on the long-term wagon, as Cars Direct reports that the company is now offering 84-month loans.

“But wait,” you may say. “Didn’t Honda say those kinds of loans weren’t good?” You’re right, dear reader. Back in 2015, speaking to Bloomberg at the North American International Auto Show, Honda’s U.S. sales chief John Mendel said that Honda wouldn’t be getting in on 84-month loan terms, saying, “You’re ringing the bell on a new-car sale, but that customer is saddled — they’re stretched so thin.” He then called the long terms “stupid not just for us, but for the industry.”

Ironically, 84 months later, the company is now offering the very thing it said it wouldn’t do. Previously, the longest term you could do with Honda was just 72 months. But the company says the 84-month terms will be offered after feedback from dealers

While that 84-month term may make that payment on an Si look appealing, it’s not a good idea in the long run. For one, the vehicle will lose value faster than you can repay the loan, and the long term means a person will be paying more interest, especially if a buyer doesn’t have a Tier 1 (scores of 700 or above) credit score

And yes, you read that right, dealers can markup a percentage rate on a loan. Looks like it won’t be long until 96-month terms are the industry norm

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Honda is simplifying its Japanese lineup by discontinuing the CR-V, Insight, and Shuttle in that region, according to a report from Best Car. In addition, the company is temporarily dropping the Accord from the JDM market until the next-gen model arrives.

Production of the CR-V, Insight, and Shuttle ends in August. There's no decision yet about introducing next-gen versions of these products to the lineup available in the country, this report claims. Assembly of the Accord for the Japanese market stops in September.

According to Best Car, Honda has now discontinued 10 models from the Japanese market in the last two years. The others are the Acty, Clarity, Legend, NSX, Odyssey, and S660.

For the US, Honda just revealed the sixth-generation CR-V. It goes on sale for the 2023 model year. The larger crossover gains a more chiseled appearance on the outside and has a cabin with similar touches as the current Civic. Power comes from either a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine making 190 horsepower (142 kilowatts) or a hybrid-assisted 2.0-liter offering 204 hp (152 kW) and 247 pound-feet (335 Newton-meters).

Honda already confirms that the next-gen Accord is on the way for a debut in 2023, and we have spy shots of it on the road. The model appears to be a bit bigger than the current sedan, and the exterior seems to borrow cues from the latest Civic. Powertrain changes are still a mystery, but the company says that a hybrid option continues to be part of the lineup.

In April, Honda announced plans to drop the Insight from the brand's lineup in the United States. The company intends to position the upcoming Civic Hybrid as the Insight's replacement in the range.

There are no details available yet about the version of the Civic Hybrid for the United States. In Europe, the Civic e:HEV combines a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine running on the Atkinson-cycle and two electric motors. The combined output is 181 hp (135 kW) and 232 lb-ft (315 Nm).