1999 Honda Civic Lx on 2040-cars

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New Odyssey ads feature Honda Vac, star power

Honda has released a string of new ads highlighting its refreshed, 2014 Odyssey minivan. While the Japanese brand hasn't started bragging about attaining the first Top Safety Pick+ for minivans, it's all too happy to brag about another first - the world's first van with a built-in vacuum cleaner.
In three spots, anthropomorphic children's rubbish discusses the merits of the new minivan, only to be sucked up by the built-in vacuum, which is only available in the top-end Touring Elite model. There's also quite a bit of star power floating around for those that watch a lot of TV. Neil Patrick Harris from Doogie Howser, MD and How I Met Your Mother voices a character in one of the spots, while Rainn Wilson from The Office stars in another. Take a look below for all three ads from Honda.

Honda has more tricks in store for next Civic Type R

While we can only admire the current Honda Civic Type R from afar, the next version is slated to make its way to American showrooms. That's not expected to happen until 2017, but our friends over at CivicX.com got a sneak peek at the engine that will provide its motivation. And it looks to be shaping up to be a real firecracker. Honda's latest 2.0-liter inline-four is slated to take its advanced design even further. Not only will it combine a turbocharger with the company's signature VTEC variable valve timing system, but closer inspection of the pictured engine reveals that it will also feature an electric actuator on the wastegate as well as a bypass valve integrated into the compressor housing. Expect the new Type R to be even faster and more potent than the current version. That's saying a lot considering that the existing Type R already packs 306 horsepower and clocked the fastest time for a front-drive car at the Nurburgring – besting the Renaults and Seats that diced it for top honors until now. It'll surely be an expensive piece of kit, though, which brings us to another potential piece of good news. This engine is tipped to make it into the lower-level Civic Si as well, albeit in a somewhat detuned state. As it is, the outgoing Civic Si packs 205 horsepower, so there's plenty of room to improve before it starts threatening even the existing Type R, let alone the more potent model to come. All of which tells us that the Si will be no slouch either, and with those features will surely prove a favorite once again in the tuner crowd. Related Video:

Mixed sales results, but automaker stocks rise on need for cars in Houston

DETROIT — The Big Three Detroit automakers on Friday reported better-than-expected August sales and issued optimistic outlooks for demand as residents of the Houston area replace flood-damaged cars and trucks after Hurricane Harvey, sending their stocks higher. General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler posted mixed August U.S. sales, with GM up 7.5 percent and Ford and Fiat Chrysler down. Japanese automaker Toyota improved sales by nearly 7 percent, while Honda fell 2.4 percent. Still, analysts focused on the potential for Detroit automakers to cut inventories and stabilize used vehicle prices as residents of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, are forced to replace tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of vehicles after the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Mark LaNeve, Ford's U.S. sales chief, told analysts on Friday that following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 "we saw a very dramatic snapback" in demand. That said, Ford sales fell 2.1 percent in August. It sold 209,897 vehicles in the United States, compared with 214,482 a year earlier. Sales were down 1.9 percent in the Ford division and off 5.8 percent at Lincoln. Demand was down for cars, crossovers and SUVs. It was not clear how many vehicles in the Houston area will be scrapped, LaNeve said, saying he had seen estimates ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 to 1 million. Ford's Houston dealers may have lost fewer than 5,000 vehicles in inventory, he said. Ford is the No. 1 automaker in the Houston market, with 18 percent share, according to IHS Markit. The company plans to ship used vehicles to Houston dealers and has "every indication we would have to add some production" of new vehicles to meet demand, LaNeve said. Investor concerns about inventories of unsold vehicles and falling used car prices have weighed on Detroit automakers' shares most of this year. Now, automakers can anticipate a jolt of demand from a big market that is a stronghold for Detroit brand trucks and SUVs. "It's got to be a positive for the industry," LaNeve said. Investors appeared to agree. GM shares rose as much as 3.3 percent to their highest since early March. Ford increased 2.8 percent at $11.34, and Fiat Chrysler's U.S.-traded shares were up 5.2 percent $15.91, hitting their highest in more than five years. GM reported a 7.5 percent increase in U.S. auto sales in August, helped by robust sales of crossovers across its four brands.