2014 Honda Accord Lx on 2040-cars

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Honda Urban SUV concept previews Fit-based crossover

We've been hearing a lot of rumblings this year about a new crossover based on the Honda Fit, and now we finally get to see what this B-segment CUV might look like. Called the Urban SUV Concept, Honda's new small crossover has made its debut at the Detroit Auto Show, but we'll have to wait until 2014 to see the production version on sale in the US. Honda says the production version of this concept, whatever it will be called, will slot below the CR-V in terms of size and price.
In terms of this concept's styling, there is plenty of the new Honda Accord in its face, and it looks like a more rugged version of the Nissan Juke, as well as a more practical alternative to the Hyundai Veloster. With its short overhangs, the concept measures 169.3 inches in length, making it about eight inches longer than a Fit hatchback and nine inches shorter than the CR-V. Honda confirmed that its new crossover will debut a telematics system for Honda, and it will use one of Honda's new Earth Dreams engines; we previously reported that this engine would be a 1.5-liter I4 paired with a continuously variable transmission.
The next-generation Fit is expected to debut before this new crossover model, and both models will be built at Honda's Celaya, Mexico assembly plant, which is scheduled to open early next year. A new sedan is also expected to round out the lineup of Fit-based products. For more information about this new Urban SUV Concept, scroll down for Honda's official press release.

Honda sees sales up but profit sliding 16 percent in 2017-18

TOKYO - Honda forecasts a 16 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker sees higher auto sales being offset by a stronger yen and research-and-development costs. Japan's No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705 billion yen ($6.34 billion) in the current FY2018, down from 840.7 billion yen posted in the fiscal year just ended, and lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen from 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It sees a 14 percent slide in net profit to 530.0 billion yen this year, down from 616.5. Honda's projections are based on a forecast that the yen will average 105 yen to the U.S. dollar through next March, stronger than the 108 yen rate in the year just ended.BUT CAR SALES ARE UP At the same time, there's good news as Honda expects its global vehicle sales to edge up 1 percent to 5.08 million this year, bolstered by growth in Asian sales to 2.06 million units, beating out North America to become Honda's top market as more Chinese drivers flock to its cars. The company expects to sell 1.92 million vehicles in North America, 2.5 percent less than the year just ended as it struggles to sell sedans including the Accord, which have fallen out of fashion in the past few years. Honda has been ramping up production of SUVs to keep up with strong demand for larger models in the United States, although overall vehicle sales show signs of slowing following a boom cycle after the global financial crisis. Mazda is taking a similar strategy, announcing on Friday it would expand production of SUV crossover models at home, while equipping overseas plants to enable more flexible production of models according to market needs. Japan's No. 5 automaker forecast a 19 percent jump in operating profit for the current financial year as it expects higher sales volumes, particularly in North America, to help it recover from last year's profit slump.A CONSERVATIVE OUTLOOK Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi acknowledged that Honda's expected currency hit of 95 billion yen was based on a "conservative" yen forecast, adding that growing costs to create next-generation cars would also impact earnings. "Our costs are rising to develop new technologies which will be needed in the future, like automated driving functions and electric cars," he told reporters at a results briefing.

Honda patents engine with different cylinder displacements

A basic rule of engine design states that the displacement of a cylinder is equal to the engine's total displacement divided by its cylinder count. Honda, according to a recently surfaced Japanese patent, is looking to break that rule with an engine containing cylinders of different sizes. We've done our best to translate it from patent-ese. The idea is that different-sized combustion chambers give more flexibility when any combination of cylinders are deactivated, or rested. Because the different numbers can be combined in various ways, it provides more and smaller increments than would an engine with equal-displacement cylinders. Take a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, for example. Following the golden displacement rule, each of the four cylinders has a volume of 500 cc, giving displacement increments of 500 cc when any cylinder is deactivated. But suppose instead that the four cylinders displace 300, 425, 600, and 675 cc, respectively. This would give the engine 15 available displacements instead of just four, and the spacing between each option would be far less than 500cc. As a result, those different virtual displacements would provide more adjustment between power and efficiency than a cylinder-deactivation system can on a conventional engine. Honda's patent describes cylinders with equal bore size, with the displacement from cylinder to cylinder varying based on the crank throw radius – the longer the throw, the longer the stroke and the larger the displacement of that particular combustion chamber. The patent describes how the cylinder sizes would need to be arranged to spread the load on the crankshaft and presumably limit vibration that would be introduced by the different pulse magnitudes. If we're interpreting things correctly, the largest cylinder (the one with the longest crank throw radius) sits in the middle of the bank with the smaller ones alternating on either side as they decrease in displacement. This concept is described for multi-cylinder inline and V-type engines of various sizes. The patent was filed in March of 2014 and published in January of this year. Whether or not this arrangement will reach production is of course unknown, but the advantages in terms of both efficiency and power seem promising. Related Video: News Source: Japan Patent Office via Auto Guide Green Honda Fuel Efficiency Technology patent