Honda to Discontinue CR-V Exports to the U.S.

While the Honda CR-V is a popular car in the United States, Honda Motor Co. is planning to discontinue exports into the U.S. market in a strategy meant to stabilize losses, as the yen grows stronger against the dollar.

Japanese car companies are dealing with losses on exported models manufactured from domestic production facilities, as the yen gathers more momentum against the dollar at 81 to 82 per dollar. Honda is the 3rd largest car manufacturer in Japan and in 2010 exported vehicles to the United States totaled to 35,000. The export ratio of Honda at 30% is comparatively low, in contrast with Toyota’s 53% and Nissan Motor’s 59%.

On Monday Honda disclosed third quarter earnings which are higher than forecasted; the boost in earnings attributed to the brick sales on light trucks in the North American market.

CR-V productions in the U.S.

Yoichi Hojo, CFO at Honda, revealed to reporters that improvements to the company profits have been brought about primarily by strong overseas demand, although Japan exports have remained challenging. He also added that producing the CR-V in America will increase production and reduce costs, albeit some investment will be necessary.

Other auto manufacturers plan to follow Honda’s lead, reducing their car exports from Japan. Last month Nissan disclosed plans on shifting production on its Rogue crossover to the U.S. from Japan as it remodels in 2013.

Light trucks are more in demand in the U.S. nowadays, as gasoline prices have remained manageable for most car owners. To accommodate this increasing demand Honda is heightening production capacity daily to 650 units in its Alabama production facilities.

The Honda CR-V

Since 1995, Honda has been manufacturing the Honda CR-V, a compact crossover 4-door SUV. Created to cater to the growing demands for a sport-utility vehicle, this SUV has its origins from the Honda Civic. This SUV was first revealed in the U.S at the 1996 Chicago Auto Show, and despite initial concerns as to its reception; the vehicle went on to secure a growing share in the SUV market.

Honda has production facilities all over the world – different production locations for specific markets - and over the years new production headquarters have been opened to accommodate increasing demand. For global markets, Honda produces this SUV in the U.K. and in Japan. CR-Vs for the North American market have also been produced in Ohio starting 2007.

For the Chinese market, Dongfeng Honda Automobile Company produces the CR-V. In addition to production sites in the U.K., Japan, and Ohio, CR-Vs marketed in North America have also been produced in Mexico.

The first generation Honda CR-V was produced between 1995 and 2001 and from 2002 to 2006 the second generation CR-V was consequently produced; a completely redesigned model from its original predecessor. From 2007 to present the third generation Honda CR-V went into production, although the 2010 model underwent a major facelift, with changes both in interior and exterior styling. For the 2010 front-wheel and all-wheel drive models, horsepower is at 180 from 166, and improvements in mileage are palpable as well.

According to EVP Koichi Kondo the earnings structure for Honda this week could possibly point to a generated profit of 100 billion yen per quarter, and 900,000 sold cars, given at a dollar rate of 85 yen to a dollar. An increase of 27% in the last three months has improved Honda’s shares while Nissan and Toyota shares improved only by 20%.
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Fastest Electric Cars - top 10

Most times, when we meet them in news and articles about an utopian future where ecological philosophy won the respect of environmental and industrial interests against corporate, the prototypes of electric cars developed by various eco-enthusiasts are small , ugly and awkward and their dismal performance leaves much to be desired. However, there is a “green hot elite”, a select group in front of which even a sleek Ferrari goes pale and nervous.

Which follows the rankings were based on the latest available information from manufacturers. When it comes to fastness (attention! not speed - although, in most models, the two issues go hand in hand), the only criterion by which we operate is the start - how long a vehicle reaches 100 km / h. Therefore, we didn’t took into account other important factors on which experts in the automotive field usually judge a car's general capabilities, such as autonomy, speed, interior amenities, availability market price. We should also add the fact that most cars in this top are in the prototype stage, not in mass-production market, and if they sell - some prices were exorbitant. However, the same can be said about elite polluting car that runs on gasoline, and the aristocratic and exclusive nature invites us to admire them even more, and on some and others.

1. Shelby Supercars Aero EV: 0-100 km / h in 2.5 s
It is a relatively new name entered the auto industry - the company was founded by American billionaire very ambitious Jerod Shelby, only 10 years ago. Gathering around him an excellent team of young and talented designers and engineers, Shelby was able to overthrow the already famous Bugatti Veyron on the position of fastest production car in the world by Aero TT model - approved by the Guinness Book record 9 October 2007, when American bolide reached no less than 413 km / h.
Satisfied and motivated by this record, Shelby wanted to repeat the performance vehicle, but this time in an eco-friendly alternative. Thus, in mid 2008, the prototype of the fastest cars appear green in the world, Aero EV. A truly revolutionary car, a new technology developed AESP (Scalable All-Electric Powertrain), which is based on a lithium battery pack, able to fully recharge in just 10 minutes from a regular source of 110 volt, U.S. which offers a range of 320 km! Batteries put into operation, two twin electric motors 1,000 hp / power that make this gorgeous green fireball to reach 100 km in just 2.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 334.7 km / h! The prototype is assessed at $ 500,000.

2. Electric Datsun 1972: 0-100 km / h in 2.95 s
Surprisingly, if this top was made only two years ago, the leading position was an electric car produced in 1972! Today, however, Electric Datsun is dethroned, although there is still on the podium, coming a respectable second place. The sedan "White Zombie", as nicknamed by its owner, was bought in 1985 for only 585 american dollars by John Wayland. Immediately after purchase, it started to upgrade and tune the car, giving it no more than 60 lithium-ion batteries of 12 volts, which have "swallowed" the trunk and back seat of the car.
20 minutes it takes for the batteries to be charged at full capacity, and their autonomy is 64 kilometers. But not the vehicle independence on the streets count , but the reason it has been rearranged for : to participate in national competitions drag (start), where he was champion for years, beating respected racing cars that run on gas, and Corvette and Porsche. Not handsome, "White Vampire”is extremely hot, reaching a hundred in 2.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 209.5 km. It is the cheapest car in the top, with current facilities is estimated at "only" $ 35,000.

3. Wrightspeed X1: 0-100 km / h in 3.07 s
The prototype looks like a hybrid between a car and a go-kart for the Indy-500, but it already has a strong and appealing resume, being cheered in the famous show Top Gear, two years ago, when he made an appearance in the landscape of hot rods green. It has also been the protagonist of an episode from the popular series on Discovery Channel, MythBusters, which, by means of 5 tests, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have wanted to demonstrate why an eco-car is better than a Ferrari. And they resusit: all five tests have been won by X1.

4. L1X-75: 0-100 km / h in 3.1 s
This is what we might call a ghost car. It seems that there is a single parent in the world, which was discovered in New York in 2007,by journalists from the U.S. magazine Popular Mechanics. They have also photographed him and have posted a video on their website to demonstrate that the green vehicle who walk in red paint is not just a chimera. Photo remained and spread on the Internet, but the video is gone ...

Since then, no one knows what became of him, although the makers of L1X-75, Hybrid Technologies Inc.. and Mullen Motor Company, also sent from time to time in press releases announcing what happens with the prototype. Of these, we found that L1X-75 has 600 horsepower, is developing a top speed of 281 mph and cost $ 125,000.

Runner-up three runs with a three-phase AC motor, which catapults it from 0 to 100 km in 3 seconds and has no gear lever - a single press on the gas pedal from reaching top speed: 180.2 km / h. It is powered by hybrid technology batteries, lithium polymer, not cheap (they cost only $ 40,000), which gives them a range of 160 km. Prototype value is estimated somewhere around $ 200,000.

5. AC Propulsion tzero Roadster 0-100 km / h in 3.6 s
He needs only 200 horsepower to sprung with great nonchalance from 0 to 100 km / h, thanks toa sturdy "body" but lightweight. In addition, he made numerous victims, surpassing in drag competitions (start + 400 meters) like Porsche 911, Corvette and a Ferrari F355, which beat it savagely with almost 20 feet!
Tzero is produced by Californian company AC Propulsion, has a range of more than "pretty good" (at least compared with other present from the top) of 482 km and cost an estimated $ 220,000. The price could be much more spicy, as AC Propulsion has produced only three such prototypes in 2003, to demonstrate that an electric car can be as quick and efficient, but inexplicably abandoned a plan to develop roadster software series. Six years ago, Tzero ranked 2 of this top.

6. Tesla Roadster: 0-100 km / h in 3.9 s
Until recently, a sports car produced in series to be as "sexy and equipped" as Bugatti Veyron, but to issue zero grams of carbon dioxide resemble a utopian environmentalist fantasy love speed. But the dream was fulfilled by Tesla Motors, which last year unveiled the Tesla Roadster, a towering fireball cross the 100,000-euro cent brags that reaches in 3.9 seconds and whose engine speed exceeds 13,000 rpm ( as compared to 7000 rpm can usually withstand a motor fuel).

The vehicle was assembled in San Carlos, California factory and uses the technical platform of Lotus Elise sports model, attaching to it any more, no less than 6,800 lithium-ion batteries. They give a range of 360 km, and their complete recharge takes 3 hours and a half. A Roadster Top speed is 201 km / h (electronically limited).

7. Eliica: 0-100 km / h in 4
Although it looks like a vehicle off a science fiction film category B, Eliica, with all its 8 wheels, accelerating faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo. Eliica (Electric Lithium-Ion Car) was invented by Japanese researcher Hiroshi Shimizu, coordinator of a team of engineers at Keio University in Tokyo, in late 2003
On the high-speed circuit in Italy, the bolide caught a top speed of 370 km / h, but the inventor says that in optimal conditions , Eliica exceed 400 km / h - in fact, it is the current objective of its producers. Until now only two models were produced - one designed to excel in speed records, other records for acceleration, both costing about $ 250,000.

8. Rinspeed iChange: 0-100 km / h in 4
She recently made her debut at the Geneva Motor Show 2009 which has left many critics surprised thanks to its unique ability to change shape depending on the number of passengers on board. His forms have been made by Swiss designer Frank Rinderknecht that imagined a vehicle with a single place which, while necessary, can be transformed into one of three places. The rationale behind this bizarre think is that the aerodynamics change with dramatic results, according to the weight of the car.
The car is powered by a 150-kilowatt electric motor that develops 204 horsepower, aided by integrated solar panels on the roof of the body, two lithium-ion batteries and a manual transmission borrowed from the Subaru WRX. It reaches a top speed of 220 km / h. Rinspeed iChange concept car is the most expensive vehicle on the top, costing one million euros.

9.Tango: 0-100 km / h in 4.5 s
Of all the eco-vehicles within this classification, Tango is closest to the infamous image of green prototypes that you are used: the small, ugly and seemingly unergonomic. By comparison with the rest of "meteorites" from other positions, Tango has a taste of Cinderella in its worst days, and at the moment of it’s launched, critics wondered whether self "how can something like this be taken seriously ?

Well, maybe. She doesn’t look too handsome, but its producers, the Americans from Commuter Cars, had two objectives: to develop a safe and efficient machine at the same time, aspire to the title of fastest urban car market. And they did: is reaching only 4.5 per cent in seconds and has a top speed of 193.1 km / h (electronically limited). Works by 19 Hawker Genesis batteries G70EP prototype, which, unlike those fitted to other vehicles from this ranking are based on acid - not lithium-ion, optional, but can also mount the latter. In both configurations, Tango's autonomy unexpectedly reached 250 km. The Price: $ 110,000. The first prototype is in possession of George Clooney, and the second came on the second floor of an office building in Silicon Valley, in the office of Eric Schmidt, Google's boss, as a joke made by April 1 by the employees of the online giant last year.

10. Dodge EV Circuit: 0-100 km / h in 5
Along with the vehicle-ghost on the 4th place, this is the most controversial of the top. That's because car fanatics have branded a field with a harsh label, calling it "Lotus toy”. Their reason: the body and interior fittings - less than what lies under the hood - roughly copy the Lotus Europa, and the new Green's Dodge was seen only as a marketing move. Wrong.

Despite all gossips, for an eco-car, the Dodge EV Circuit presents itself more than respectable: it is powered by an electric motor with lithium-ion batteries, with a range of 320 km, develops 268 horsepower, starting 000-100 km / h in five seconds and top speed is 195 km / h. Chrysler announces Dodge's marketing EV Circuit since 2010, at a very competitive price: for such a luxury fireball, is under $ 100,000.

Brussels Motor Show 2011: BMW 6-Series Convertible

Besides 320ed and an M-series BMW convertible for the fans good news, because they make their new 6-Series Convertible to the European public at the Brussels Motor Show .

The 6-Series Convertible preference was closed variant, probably because BMW is so confident that the weather will allow top driving and the first copy in the spring. With a soft top you lose not so much when you place the hair in the wind to drive around, because you still have 300 liters of luggage space available compared to 350 liters. The interior has been upgraded as a multimedia system, which is now available with a 7 "or 10.3" screen so the user only and can only grow.

That the BMW 6-Series looks like a real top model, is immediately obvious when we see the engine range. There is only choice topmotorisaties. The piece is the 650i, which features a 4.4-liter V8 with 407 hp and 600 Nm of torque while the 640i with 320 hp and 450 Nm of torque available from the renowned 3-liter six-cylinder engine. All significant safety and gadgets from the 7-Series also find their way back to the options list for this 6-Series, available from 80,000 euros.