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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.

The 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback is here: all turbo, manual optional

The car you see above may look familiar. Honda showed a mildly conceptified version of the tenth-gen Civic hatch in March, and just last week a production model was caught being loaded onto a ship. Now it's finally here and official, and we can tell you that a hatchback Civic will once again be sold in the US starting this fall. Utility lovers rejoice. This new body style joins the somewhat-hatch-looking sedan and the coupe Honda has been selling for about a year. It will be available in LX, Sport, EX, EX-L, and Sport Touring trims, with that last one being a new addition. All will get Honda's 1.5-liter turbo four offered in upper trims of the sedan and coupe, but they won't all get the same amount of power: LX, EX, and EX-L models will use a 174-hp version, while anything that says Sport on the back gets bumped up to a 180-hp tune, thanks in part to the sweet center-exit exhaust you see on the car above. Torque doesn't vary between the trims – it's 162 lb-ft on all of them. The other exciting bit of news is that the hatchback (along with other 2017 Civics) will be available with the turbo engine and a manual – in the same car. (For 2016, turbo coupes and sedans were sold exclusively with the CVT, and the manual was offered only on lower trims with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four.) The six-speed stick will be standard on LX, Sport, and EX models, while the CVT will be available on those trim levels and standard on the others. The turbo engine is a charmer, and we have said from the start that it would be that much better with a stick, even though most people will choose the CVT anyway. But yay for freedom of choice. Equipment should pretty well mirror what's available on the same trims in the two- and four-doors, with the exception of that new Sport Touring trim. It sounds like that will be Touring equipment – including the Honda Sensing suite of safety tech (available on other trims), Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, and LED headlights – plus some more sport-like looks and the power bump. Civic hatches will be built exclusively at Honda's plant in Swindon, England. Fun fact: The last Civic hatch to be sold in the US, the oddball 2002–2005 Si, came from the same factory. Big changes come in the rear, obvs, and include a hatch with glass that's bisected (something Honda loves to do) by a spoiler spanning the taillights.

Autoblog Minute: 2016 Honda Civic reveal

Honda reveals the 2016 Civic in Detroit proving that the Frankfurt Motor show isn't the only place for automotive news in September. Autoblog's Mylencia Gillenwaters reports on this edition of Autoblog Mintue with Eddie Sabatini reporting. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Honda reveals the 2016 Civic in Detroit proving that the Frankfurt Motor show isn't the only place for automotive news in September. I'm Mylencia Gillenwaters and this is your Autoblog Minute. 2016 will mark the 10th generation Honda Civic, an iconic car that dates back to the 1970s. The automaker invited us to a reveal of the interior and exterior for their standard sedan. We sent Autoblog's Eddie Sabatini for a closer look: [Eddie Sabatini Interview] With the base model, Honda is aiming for a fuel economy rating of at least 40 miles per gallon in the 2016 Civic. And coming soon, closer looks at the: Civic coupe - five door hatchback - Si - and Type R. For Autoblog, I'm Mylencia Gillenwaters. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals.