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Honda debuts NSX Concept-GT hybrid racer

Not to be outdone by Lexus and its new LF-CC racecar, Honda is also bringing a little more excitement to the Japanese Super GT racing series with its NSX Concept-GT. Yes, just like the original NSX, this racecar will wear the Honda badge in its home market when it replaces the current offering in that series, the non-production HSV-010 GT, which itself replaced the NSX in the series back in 2010.
Looking exactly how we'd imagine a race-prepped 2015 Acura NSX to look, this racer is mean and sexy at the same time, and it will be powered by a racing hybrid system with a turbocharged four-cylinder mounted behind the driver. No word on power output, but it will compete in the GT500 class, which restricts power output to 500 horsepower. Unlike the Lexus racecar, the Honda NSX Concept-GT will being competing this season starting with this weekend's race at the Suzuka Circuit before running the full 10-race 2014 season. Scroll down for the short press release.

Average transaction prices climb to a record $36,270 in January

The automotive sector made a hash of the numbers last month, a mess of pluses and minuses clogging the transaction-price charts according to Kelley Blue Book. The overall industry rose one percent, even though buyers bought fewer cars and light vehicles in January 2018 vs 2017 using the selling-day adjusted rate. Due to January transaction prices rising to $36,270, a record for January, the value of new vehicles sold climbed more than $1 billion compared to January 2017. KBB's transaction prices don't include customer incentives, which changes the complexion slightly; average incentive spending rose to just over ten percent. The average transaction price in December 2017 was $36,756, so January dropped a bit - nothing unexpected, with the month annually blamed for "January doldrums." More revealing is the fact that the average transaction price in January 2017 was $34,910. This year's plumped-up figure came courtesy of the continued shift to crossovers, SUVs, and light trucks, which shouldn't surprise anyone who's read an automotive blog in the past 20 years. That category comprised nearly 70 percent of new vehicle sales for the month. Some manufacturers profited more than others, though. Fiat Chrysler managed 12.8 percent fewer sales in January compared year-on-year, but the company's vehicles sold for $1,300 more. The Ford brand suffered a 6.3-percent dip in sales, but brand transaction prices increased $2,000, while a Lincoln sold for $8,700 more on average. General Motors sold more cars and sold them for more money; overall GM transaction prices rose four percent, or $1,270, while a GMC traded hands for seven-percent more than in January 2017 and a Cadillac got $2,300 more on average. Of KBB's listed automakers, the Volkswagen Group got the most of out its customers, transaction prices rising at the German automaker by 5.6 percent to $42,243 in January 2018 compared to a year earlier. American Honda followed with a 4.3-percent increase to $28,991, GM in third at 4.1 percent to $40,313. Find your next car at Autoblog using our new and used car listings or the Car Finder tool. Broken out by segment, minivans rocked the table, transaction prices leaping by 7.9 percent to $35,380 compared to January a year earlier. Luxury cars boasted the next-highest rise, at 3.6 percent to $58,533.

New Honda ad has Senna, Type R, Asimo, and astronauts

Now that Honda is back into the guts-and-performance game, automotively speaking, the Japanese company has hit the throttle on hardcore imagery. Its latest is in an ad for the company itself highlighting a small selection of its ample range of products, from motorcycles to an airplane and the coming Acura NSX, branded Honda in other markets. Called "Ignition," Wieden+Kennedy created the 90-second spot for Honda Motor Europe, with the tagline "Dare to do what others only dream of." The theme is a space launch, to give that "feeling of daring and human endeavor," perfectly supported by the print artwork with Asimo the robot up front and fabulously complicated hybrid V6 power units spewing flames from the Formula 1 cars in back. Then there's the family in the HR-V in the middle, defying gravity and sipping from juice boxes, because space is for everyone. Ayrton Senna makes a cameo again, and a Stanley Kubrick aesthetic hangs all over the production. You can check out the ad in the video above.