2006 Honda Ridgeline Rts on 2040-cars

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eBay Find of the Day: 1985 Honda City Turbo II is JDM forbidden fruit you can own

It's always fun to cruise different global eBay Motors sites and check out the cars that we never got here. Thankfully, America's 25-year import limit on cars means that some of the rarities from the 80s are finally legal on these shores. This 1985 Honda City Turbo II is a great example of a fun, little car that we never got new but can be made legal here now.
The City was basically the Japanese company's '80s equivalent of today's Fit, albeit significantly smaller. The little urban runabout was so popular in its basic form that Honda decided to take things up a notch and turbocharge it. That car sold enough to warrant an even higher performance version called the Turbo II, which added an intercooler and the flared fenders you see here. The latter helped it earn the nickname "bulldog" for its boxy, aggressive appearance.
Honda claimed at the time that its little 1.2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder produced 109 horsepower and 118 pound-feet of torque with a five-speed manual. In a car that weight just 1,620 pounds, you can imagine it was a very entertaining little package.

Honda sketches boxy crossover concept for Shanghai

In America we may be gearing up for the New York Auto Show, but elsewhere in the world there are other shows on the horizon. Like the Shanghai Motor Show, which will kick off later in April. That's where Honda plans to unveil a new crossover concept. The Japanese automaker isn't saying much about what's new with this concept, except to say that it's been designed specifically for the Chinese market. From this teaser image we can already see that the concept looks decidedly more straight-edged and boxy than the Pilot and CR-V we get over here, striking a form that almost begins to resemble a Kia Soul, but not so much that we'd characterize it at this early stage as a potential successor to the Element. We'll just have to sit tight to find out more, but with the doors in Shanghai set to open to the press on April 20, it won't be too long now. Honda to Exhibit World Premiere of All-new Concept Model at the Auto Shanghai 2015 - Overview of Honda Exhibit - BEIJING, China, March 31, 2015 – Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned Honda subsidiary in China, today announced plans to exhibit the world premiere of an all-new concept model as well as other all-new Honda models at Auto Shanghai 2015 (The 16th International Automobile & Manufacturing Technology Exhibition, press days: April 20-21, 2015, public days: April 22-29, 2015). ?Overview of Honda exhibit Jointly with Guangqi Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., Honda will exhibit the world premiere of a concept model for a new SUV exclusively developed for the Chinese market. Other models on display will include the all-new City, which underwent a full model change, and the new CR-V equipped with a completely new powertrain. ?A new SUV concept model (world premiere) Design sketch Design sketch ?City (China premiere) ?CR-V (China premiere) ?F1 machine - McLaren-Honda MP4-30 ?GL1800C, NC750S ?Accord Hybrid (the U.S. model) ?Odyssey special-needs vehicle (equipped with side lift-up sheet)

Honda to use English as its official language

Honda still has its headquarters in Japan and offices all over the world, but expect to hear a little less Japanese from the automaker in the coming years. A small statement in the business' latest sustainability report (available here as a PDF) announces English will become the official language for interregional communication by 2020. Honda believes that the change should foster better contact between countries as Japan becomes a less central focus for the company. As part of this shift, any documents or questions during interregional meetings, plus any other information being shared between territories, must be in English. To put some extra weight behind the mandate, the ability to speak the language is going to be a requirement for future promotions to management. In the meantime, "Honda has implemented measures in Japan that include study programs aimed at boosting English language skills," the sustainability report said. According to Automotive News, former CEO Takanobu Ito called the idea of making English an official language for company communications "stupid" five years ago. Although even under his watch, things were changing. In 2013, Honda adopted English as the main form of discourse in global meetings. The decision to lessen the focus on Japanese within Honda stems in part from changing worker demographics and major sales regions. According to Automotive News, 81 percent of the company's production comes from outside of Japan, and the country only accounts for about a third of the workforce. Also, 40 percent of global sales are from North America. Honda is quickly transitioning into a more global company in general. For example, the latest Civic Type R is assembled in the UK but has an engine from the US. Also, North America is getting the European made Civic five-door hatchback for the venerable model's next generation. English as the Official Language Setting English as the official language in inter- regional communications It is vital to develop an environment that achieves close communication between associates in six regions worldwide in order for the Honda Group to display its comprehensive capabilities while local sites are independent.