1991 Honda Civic Wagon, 2wd on 2040-cars

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Honda exclusive to McLaren at least until 2017

Next year Honda will return to Formula One after a seven-year absence, bringing the first Japanese automaker to compete in the top-tier racing series back into the fold. But though it started in 1964 much as it ended in 2008, running its own team (much like Ferrari and Mercedes do today), its new F1 program will see it revert to engine-supplier status (like Renault did when it sold its team to Lotus).
The arrangement will be exclusive to McLaren for the 2015 Formula One World Championship. But what fans and insiders alike have been wondering is how it might expand after that. Well, now we have at least part of the answer.
According to the F1 business insiders at Pitpass, Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai told a group of journalists at this past weekend's race in Shanghai that the deal with McLaren will be exclusive not only in 2015, but also in 2016. In other words, it won't be until 2017 at the earliest before Honda might begin supplying engines to any other teams, if at all.

New Honda ads: Fix your airbags

As we've heard on many different occasions, one of the biggest problem with recalls is getting people to actually report to the dealership to have repairs done. This is particularly important in cases where the recalled part can cause some very serious harm. To combat this tendency – you might even call it neglectfulness – on the part of owners, Honda is turning to advertising. The company is launching a multi-million-dollar ad campaign targeting owners of vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recall and asking them to report in to have a replacement inflator installed. "Honda hopes that this new consumer information campaign will bolster our existing and continuing efforts to reach our customers and maximize the vehicle repair completion rates associated with recalls to replace Takata airbag inflators," Honda's John Mendel said in the attached statement. "These ads are a strong call to action from our company designed to break through the clutter, grab the attention of customers driving affected vehicles, and urge that they get required repairs as soon as possible." The campaign will kick off March 16 with full-page color ads in over 120 newspapers and 30-second radio spots in 110 markets. Because it's 2015, the company will also use sponsored Facebook posts "that mention the specific vehicle owned by each identified user." Yep, here's the future. Honda's ads will largely be focused in the 11 high-humidity states and territories (Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) most affected by the Takata recall. Several of the states were part of the initial National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation, like Florida, Hawaii, the USVI and Puerto Rico. "The goals of this campaign is to save lives and prevent injuries," Mendel added. This campaign will be worth watching, not only because they deliver an important message, but they could set a precedent for the handling of future major recalls. Check out Honda's full press release, available below. New Honda Advertising Campaign Urges Owners to Take Immediate Action to Check for Open Recalls to Replace Takata Airbag Inflators Mar 12, 2015 - TORRANCE, CA.

The 2016 Honda Civic desperately needs the cool kids

"... I am contagious, I am breaking down ..." Oh, that's the song. The 2016 Honda Civic's launch party was just so achingly cool. Honda showed off its 10th-generation Civic Sedan Wednesday at YouTube Space LA, and livestreamed it for the world to see. I was standing across from a band whose song I knew but name I didn't (turns out it was Night Riots), and near people in knit caps and tattoos cheering them on. Honda is stoked on this epic new Civic, guys. This all sounds like another cynical marketing attempt to capture the attention of people my age. The ones studies suggest hate driving and have no interest in cars, according to old people and their old muscle cars. Last year, Audi released a whole guide on how to sell the A3 to Millennials. We do love our aggressively targeted campaigns. It's like the Civic became what your Aunt Hattie replaced her '93 Achieva with. In fairness, the 2016 Civic has a hell of a lot riding on its more chiseled shoulders. The Civic long had a following among new, young buyers looking for their first new car, who then just kept buying them because they loved them so much. That sort of fell apart with the ninth-generation Civic, a car so removed from its ancestry in terms of feel, looks, and overall spirit. It's like the Honda Civic became what your Aunt Hattie replaced her '93 Achieva with. It's shown in the sales figures. In 2014, the Accord became Honda's car with the most buyers under the age of 35. The HR-V and CR-V SUVs also represent more of what buyers want these days, with rugged looks and available all-wheel drive. It's no cakewalk for the Civic anymore. Clear past the clutter of the band and the fog of the reveal, and the 2016 Civic already looks like it has the things young new-car buyers look for when they go shopping. Show-car styling, the promise of good fuel economy, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and lots and lots of features. The first of the new Civics Honda showed touts technology, refinement, and content more than the fun-to-drive characteristics. Enthusiasts may not find much comfort in the fact you can only get Honda's new 1.5-liter turbo on models equipped with a CVT, now that the six-speed manual has really been relegated to the base LX. But then you were probably waiting for the forthcoming Si, or next year's hatchback model, or probably the new Type-R. The Civic sedan targets the mainstream, and this time, the mainstream is the under-35 crowd.