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Honda not ready to give up on CR-Z, Civic Hybrid in US just yet

Honda has already killed off the CR-Z in Europe, so news that the car is no longer going to be sold in Australia isn't exactly a surprise. In fact, Car Advice says that both the CR-Z and the Civic Hybrid are coming to the end of the line Down Under following disappointing sales. Honda sold only 370 CR-Zs in Australia in 2012 and then 58 in 2013 and 86 in 2014. These cancellations got us thinking: what does the future look like for these vehicles in the US? Well, stateside, CR-Z sales dropped almost 20 percent in 2014, compared to 2013, to 3,562 units. The Civic Hybrid sold just 5,070 units, a drop of almost 35 percent. Both of these vehicles use the aging Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) mild hybrid system, which the company's other hybrids (like the Accord) do not. Does that mean Honda hybrid fans will soon no longer be able to buy a CR-Z or Civic Hybrid? Not so fast, says Angie Nucci, Honda PR's senior environment and safety specialist. "The 2015 CR-Z went on-sale in early October and the 2015 Civic Hybrid went on-sale the following month in November," Nucci said. "Since these vehicles went on-sale fairly recently, it is simply too early to discuss future models at this time." Still, in Australia, the CR-Z and Civic Hybrid are both officially leaving the line-up. The company say that three new "Hybrid Sport" models will be coming at some point, starting with the Accord Hybrid later this year. The next one will be the NSX and then the Jazz Hybrid. The Jazz is another name for the Fit, which we do not get in a hybrid version in the US. Featured Gallery 2014 Honda CR-Z Hybrid View 14 Photos News Source: Honda, Car Advice via Green Car Reports Green Honda discontinued

Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining

'Trouble-free day! No joke': Honda-powered Toro Rosso F1 car debuts

LONDON — Honda's Formula One partnership with the Toro Rosso team got off to a positive start on Wednesday with a seemingly smooth track debut of their new car on a limited mileage filming day in Italy. "Trouble-free day!! No joke," commented French driver Pierre Gasly on Twitter. New Zealander Brendon Hartley, who was at the wheel of the TR13 car at the wet Misano circuit, reported on Instagram that "the new girl ran super smooth." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Honda is starting over with the Red Bull-owned team this season after three seasons of failure with former champions McLaren left the Japanese engine manufacturer's reputation in tatters. A behind-the-scenes documentary, "Grand Prix Driver," released on Amazon recently shone a spotlight on the tension between McLaren and Honda that eventually led to the relationship tearing apart. It also revealed how the troubles had started before the launch of the car and were fully exposed once testing in Barcelona started when the car broke down repeatedly due to engine failures. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. McLaren, who finished ninth out of the 10 teams last season, is now using Renault engines and hoping to be far more competitive. How Toro Rosso, and McLaren, fare this season will be among the intriguing sub-plots to the 21-race season that starts in Australia on March 25, with Mercedes and Ferrari again expected to be the frontrunners. Italy-based Toro Rosso, one of the smaller outfits on the starting grid, has taken the cynicism and gloom-mongering about its prospects in good heart. It put out a tongue-in-cheek Q&A at the time of the first engine fire-up that included the questions: "Did it take like six attempts to fire up?", "Did the engine blow up?" and "Did your factory catch fire after the engine started?" The respective answers were "Nope, the engine fired up on the first attempt," "Quite the opposite, it started just as planned" and "Our factory is perfectly fine, thanks for the concern." The final 'question' was simply, "Good luck, you'll need it." Reporting by Alan BaldwinRelated Video: Motorsports Honda McLaren Racing Vehicles F1 toro rosso