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On sale in Japan, Honda won't bring $31k Odyssey Hybrid to US

Japanese minivan customers have been spoiled for choice when it comes to gas-electric versions of their favorite family haulers. Toyota, for example, started selling the Estima - the world's first hybrid minivan – in 2001, and it also offers the Aphard hybrids. Starting tomorrow, buyers will be able to buy the new Odyssey Hybrid minivan from Honda for a not-unreasonable price. US buyers? We're not so lucky. That's because the Japanese Odyssey and the version sold in the US don't share much except the name. That means that the only company bold enough to put a hybrid powertrain – and a plug-in version at that – into a US-bound minivan is FCA, which just introduced us to the Pacifica Hybrid. So, we'll have to just pine for what's available over in Japan. There, the new Odyssey Hybrid comes with an updated dual-motor Sport Hybrid i-MMD powertrain that uses a 2.0-liter and no transmission. It is offered in two versions (standard and 'Absolute') and a total of six trim levels. The hybrid Odyssey starts at the equivalent of $31,235 US and tops out at $34,725, which is a level that Honda says is, "affordably-priced." Related Video: Honda to Begin Sales of Refreshed Odyssey and Odyssey Absolute -- Hybrid model will be newly added to the Odyssey lineup TOKYO, Japan, February 4, 2016 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will begin sales of an affordably-priced hybrid version as well as the newly refreshed gasoline-powered version of the Honda Odyssey and Odyssey Absolute premium minivans on Friday, February 5, 2016 at dealerships across Japan. A new addition to the Odyssey lineup, the hybrid version realizes both excellent fuel economy and high-quality driving in the Odyssey and Odyssey Absolute which have been well-received for their spacious cabin, stately styling and exhilarating yet stable driving experience. The newly-added Odyssey Hybrid and Odyssey Hybrid Absolute are the first Honda premium minivan models equipped with the revolutionary Honda-developed powertrain Sport Hybrid i-MMD*1 and realize class-topping*2 fuel economy of 26.0 km/L (JC08 mode)*3. In the thorough pursuit of system efficiency, Honda developed a new motor that features an innovative winding method and structure. This newly-developed motor is approximately 23% smaller and lighter than the previous version and yet realizes high torque and high output.

Honda scraps 2017 sales target amid concerns over quality

Honda CEO Takanobu Ito thinks that the automaker he leads needs to go back to basics to avoid continuing quality concerns. To do that, the boss is making the radical shift of entirely chucking the company's six-million vehicle annual sale targets through 2017, and there's no intention to include the goals in the next midterm plan, either, according to Bloomberg. The move comes soon after last month's announcement to set aside about $425 million to pay for recalls and slice forecasts by about 17,000 cars for the fiscal year. The complete shift from the way most automakers do business stems from the significant number of recalls from Honda last year. While the most glaring example is the Takata airbag problems affecting roughly 5.4 million of the company's vehicles in the US, that's hardly the only one. In Japan, the Fit Hybrid needed five repair campaigns in 12 months to fix various issues, and according to Bloomberg, the Vezel (similar to the HR-V in the US) has needed three. Honda also had to pay $70 million to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to submit 1,729 safety reports to the agency. The Japanese automaker has been working on ways to right the ship for months. In the wake of the Fit recalls, top executives took a three-month, 20 percent pay cut and created an independent position to monitor vehicle quality. Previous Honda CEOs have also offered stern words to Ito. The problems haven't had quite such a dire effect in the US, though. Sales in 2014 were up one percent, and January 2015 showed a year-over-year improvement of 11.5 percent

Honda, GM fuel-cell partnership wants to reduce hydrogen refueling costs

To paraphrase the old political adage, it's the cost, stupid. Dollar signs are what's prompting Honda and General Motors to partner up to accelerate development of a hydrogen fuel cell system. With about half the cost of a fuel-cell system tied up in its fuel-cell stack, GM and Honda are looking to help each other drive costs down, according to a presentation by GM fuel cell research and development director Mark Mathias said in a presentation at the SAE 2014 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium. According to Green Car Congress, Honda and GM are looking to reap the fruits of their collective labor by 2020. As with other automakers, the high cost of producing fuel-cell vehicles is the fly in the ointment of a powertrain technology that combines the same range as gas-powered vehicles but with zero emissions. In the meantime, Honda, which makes the very limited production FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle, is slated to start selling its own mass-market fuel-cell vehicle in 2015. The two automakers made their partnership announcement last summer and said they contribute to expanding hydrogen fuel infrastructure in California during the next few years. Earlier, Ford, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and Nissan also said they would work together to speed up fuel-cell technology development.