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Clarion Builds' 1991 Acura NSX going up for auction at Barrett-Jackson

Having driven it, I can say with full confidence that Clarion Builds' tuned and restored 1991 Acura NSX is a very, very special car. If you're in the market for just such a vehicle, good news: on October 20, that very same NSX will be going up for auction at Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. As much as the people behind the car hate to see it leave their hands, this just makes room for another awesome project to take its place. Really, this was the final fate for the NSX all along. All proceeds from the sale will benefit the American Red Cross. At the end of its life, Clarion Builds' 1974 BMW 2002 was auctioned off, too. Rather than simply holding on to the car or selling it for profit, the company partnered with Barrett-Jackson auctions. The auction house doesn't charge a fee for charity vehicles, meaning all of the money will go toward the Red Cross. The 2002 sold in 2016 for $125,000. Clarion Builds' expects the NSX to fetch even more money. This NSX has more than 230,000 miles on the chassis. It packs a 3.2-liter supercharged V6 and a six-speed manual transmission. Everything, from the bodywork to the suspension, has been modified. The car will be showcased in Las Vegas before and after the auction alongside Clarion Builds' latest project, a 1993 BMW 850Ci. More on that car to come sometime soon. Related Video: Image Credit: Larry Chen Acura Honda Auctions Coupe Performance

2017 Honda Accord Hybrid comes with $300 price hike

The 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid went on sale at US dealerships today with an MSRP of $29,605, or $300 more than the 2016 model. Among other new bells and whistles, the sedan, which is available in three trims, includes features such as front and rear parking sensors, remote engine start, heated rear seats, and rain sensing wipers, not to mention the "elegantly contoured" aluminum hood. Honda Sensing driver-assist features are now part of the standard equipment package, while the EX-L version includes touchscreen interface with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability. Honda revealed details about the model in April, saying at the time that it had a combined fuel-economy rating of 48 miles per gallon. Honda notes that rating can't be compared to the 2016 model-year's fuel economy because of "new more stringent ratings requirements enacted by the US EPA," though has estimated that, apples to apples, the fuel-economy of the 2017 version is up about four percent. That, even though the car's horsepower is also increased about eight percent to 212. The new price tag means the Accord Hybrid will start about $1,600 higher than the Toyota Camry Hybrid. That model kept its pricing at $27,625 for the 2017 model year. Regardless, Honda is hoping to goose its hybrid sales with the updated model. Honda and its Acura division's hybrid sales through May plunged 79 percent from a year earlier to 1,975 units. Last year, Honda sold 11,063 Accord Hybrids, down 21 percent from a year earlier. By comparison, Toyota sold 30,640 Camry Hybrid's last year, marking a 22 percent drop from 2014. Meantime, take a look at Honda's press release below. Related Video: Honda Launches 2017 Accord Hybrid: America's Most Sophisticated, Powerful and Fuel Efficient Midsize Hybrid Sedan Jun 15, 2016 - TORRANCE, Calif. Next-generation two-motor hybrid powertrain with class-leading 212 horsepower and top-in-class EPA fuel economy ratings of 49/47/48 mpg1 Dynamic new styling and advanced features including standard Honda Sensing™ technology, plus available Display Audio with Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™ America's best-selling midsize sedan bolsters its resume for 2016 with the arrival of the restyled and reengineered 2017 Accord Hybrid, America's most powerful and fuel-efficient midsize hybrid sedan, launching today at Honda dealerships nationwide.

China's largest dealer body pushes back against foreign automakers over huge inventories

Do not think for a second that automakers forcing inventory on dealers in order to pad the numbers is a ruse known only in the US. Stories of individual brands have hinted at the trouble Chinese dealerships are having trying to move units as the country's economic growth remains hot but comes off the boil, like the one revealing that 95 percent of Toyota-FAW showrooms are losing money. Yet Toyota isn't the only culprit, and the issue has become so dire that the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the largest dealer body in the country, has written to the government to complain. Chinese car sales are expected to close out the year with an annualized growth of six-percent, down from last year's 14 percent when targets were set, while in the background the pace of overall economic expansion is the slowest its been since the early nineties. Automakers, shipping cars on schedule to make their earlier targets, have blown up inventories such that they are an average of 1.8 times monthly sales, when the preferred multiplier is from 0.9 to 1.2. According to the CADA, the price wars and necessary incentives mean that only 30 percent of dealers are operating in the black. That number is down a whopping forty percent since 2010. In response, Toyota has already said it will not make its 2014 target of 1.1 million cars sold. We're a long way from 2012, when Toyota planned on selling 1.8 million cars in China in 2015, a target that's now as realistic as a manticore. BMW, Honda and Nissan have erased numbers on their spreadsheets, too; BMW growth dropped from 20 percent to 8 percent midyear after it began "reducing wholesale supplies," and Honda has been reworking its plans as sales have decreased each of the past six months. It's a big deal for Chinese dealers to begin protesting publicly, the CADA saying, "In the past, dealers were angry, but dared not speak out. But now, they have to shout because the situation is getting so unbearable." With six-percent growth forecast for next year and dealers unwilling to remain underwater, The Year of the Sheep coming in 2015 could portend meaning beyond the zodiac. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: AP Photo/Andy Wong BMW Honda Nissan Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers