2004 Honda S2000 - Private Sale, Excellent Condition. 43,000 Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 Honda Ridgeline: A sleeper or a snooze?

Ah, yes... "Baby Steps," an expression that describes gradual improvements in what preceded. Overused for sure, but it clearly describes Honda's approach to the 2017 Ridgeline. Now that the news embargo is over we will be seeing a slew of preliminary road tests. Time to dig a little deeper, examine Honda's thinking and to see where Honda might go with this new truck. Honda set a number of goals with the new Ridgeline: 1) Sell more trucks. 2) Appeal to current Ridgeline owners who are ready to trade for a new truck. 3) Sell more trucks. 4) Expand their market share by attracting new buyers who hated the styling of the old Ridgeline. 5) Sell more trucks. 6) Convince skeptics that the Ridgeline is indeed capable of doing truck tasks. 7) Sell more trucks. My take is that this new Ridgeline is about 80 percent there; as the saying goes, "Close but no cigar." I'm really curious as to how this truck might evolve. There have been rumors that a regular cab model with a long bed may be in the works. Will we see it? Who knows — but by having such a model available, it would go a long way in terms of convincing (some) critics who say it's nothing but a "Pilot with a bed." Then there's the "youth market." Honda has gone on record saying they're not interested in courting them; a huge mistake in my opinion. Hopefully they'l re-think that and offer a legit off-road model with all the requisite goodies like more ground clearance, 2-speed transfer case, skid plates, tow hooks, larger all-terrain tires —5 of them, meaning no temp spare tire! It doesn't have to be a rock-crawler, but at least give it more capability to be considered an alternative to the 4x4 competition. Another area that needs to be re-thought is that Honda is offering seven trim levels. That's crazy. Most of them are so close to one another that it makes decision-making difficult. Cut it back to three of four trim levels, max. Makes life much easier. But yes, I think this truck, even as it stands, will be a sleeper in its segment and will do reasonably well in terms of sales. I think truck customers have seen and gotten used to the old Ridgeline, and have found — for what it was intended to do, it's really a pretty good truck. This new one certainly builds upon that — and it's no longer ugly. That's all good in my book. Related Video: Image Credit: Honda Honda Truck open road

Former Honda CEOs chide current boss about quality

Taking charge of a major corporation will never be without its challenges, and one of those - as Honda CEO Takanobu Ito is finding out - is filling the big shoes of those that came before. Ito's predecessors are apparently not pleased with what he's doing to the company, and are wasting no time in telling him so.
According to Reuters, two former Honda chiefs have recently visited Ito (pictured above with his predecessor Takeo Fukui) to talk to him about the Japanese automaker's quality issues, which they apparently regard as eroding the company's image. Nobuhiko Kawamoto, who served as CEO from 1990-98, reportedly came to Honda headquarters in Tokyo to deliver "stern words" to Ito last month. Kawamoto's immediate successor, Hiroyuki Yoshino, reportedly met with Ito under similar circumstances earlier this year.
Kawamoto and Yoshino are part of a larger group of former Honda executives who are concerned with the declining quality of the company's products under Ito's leadership. Where Honda once focused more on quality, collaborating more closely with parts suppliers,more recently the company has, in the eyes of those former executives at least, shifted its focus to quantity and to new technologies. That's what, the report alleges, has led to Honda recalling so many of its vehicles in recent years.

Honda To Expand Takata Air Bag Recall Nationwide

Under pressure from federal regulators, Honda is expanding a recall of driver's side air bags to all 50 states. The air bags, made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp., can explode with too much force, sending metal shrapnel into the passenger compartment. Takata insists that current recalls covering 8 million U.S. cars in high-humidity areas are sufficient. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants the recalls expanded nationwide after some incidents outside the high-humidity zones. Rick Schosteck, Honda's executive vice president for North America, told House lawmakers Wednesday that Honda will expand the regional recall it began in June, but will continue to prioritize high-humidity areas. He also said Honda is working with other air bag manufacturers to make sure it has enough parts. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014 Recalls Honda Safety NHTSA list