Honda Odyssey Ex-l Mini Passenger Van 4-door on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.

2016 Honda Civic pricing leaked, starts at $19,475

You're going to get a whole load of 2016 Honda Civic information very, very soon. As a teaser, take a look at this pricing information on Honda's latest compact sedan, leaked by the folks at the civicx.com forums. As you can see, both invoice and retail pricing is included in this dealer ordering guide, and, assuming it's all legit, it looks like Honda has done a very good job of keeping its 2016 Civic competitive with its rivals in the compact segment. At the low end, a 2016 Civic LX with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual transmission will cost $19,475 (including an $835 destination fee). That's a $150 increase from 2015. Considering that the new car is larger and more powerful than it was last year, that small additional cost initially strikes us as reasonable. If you want an automatic, in this case a continuously variable unit paired to that same naturally aspirated base engine, you're looking at a minimum of $20,275. More good news comes in the form of the EX trim, which, at $21,875, is actually a little bit less than it was last year. Upgrading to the 1.5-liter turbocharged powerplant, which Honda promises will be the most powerful engine it has ever offered in a Civic not labeled Si, brings the asking price to $23,035. If you want leather and more bells and whistles, the Civic EX-L will start at $24,535. The Civic range tops out at $27,335 in Touring trim, assuming these leaked prices are accurate. We'll be able to confirm these prices, along with a whole heck of a lot more, on Monday morning. In other words, Civic fans, stay tuned. And get excited. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2016 Honda Civic Sedan News Source: www.civicx.com Honda Car Buying Sedan pricing

Honda has more tricks in store for next Civic Type R

While we can only admire the current Honda Civic Type R from afar, the next version is slated to make its way to American showrooms. That's not expected to happen until 2017, but our friends over at CivicX.com got a sneak peek at the engine that will provide its motivation. And it looks to be shaping up to be a real firecracker. Honda's latest 2.0-liter inline-four is slated to take its advanced design even further. Not only will it combine a turbocharger with the company's signature VTEC variable valve timing system, but closer inspection of the pictured engine reveals that it will also feature an electric actuator on the wastegate as well as a bypass valve integrated into the compressor housing. Expect the new Type R to be even faster and more potent than the current version. That's saying a lot considering that the existing Type R already packs 306 horsepower and clocked the fastest time for a front-drive car at the Nurburgring – besting the Renaults and Seats that diced it for top honors until now. It'll surely be an expensive piece of kit, though, which brings us to another potential piece of good news. This engine is tipped to make it into the lower-level Civic Si as well, albeit in a somewhat detuned state. As it is, the outgoing Civic Si packs 205 horsepower, so there's plenty of room to improve before it starts threatening even the existing Type R, let alone the more potent model to come. All of which tells us that the Si will be no slouch either, and with those features will surely prove a favorite once again in the tuner crowd. Related Video: