Most days, California must seem like Kazakhstan for the Big Three. Domestic products aren't so popular out West, where Toyota and Honda have long stood atop the sales charts. But not in 2011.
According to a report in Automotive News, both General Motors and Ford managed to bump Honda from its silver medal position in 2011, though Toyota still holds a commanding market share lead. In a storyline we've heard before, the twin natural disasters in Asia curbed Japanese production, causing a 4.5 point loss of market share. Toyota's market share dropped from 22.8 to 19.2 percent, while GM and Ford tied at 12.6 percent - ahead of Honda at 12.1.
Booming sales in the Golden State helped the domestics to their 1.8 point gain. New vehicle registrations in California were up 9.9 percent, according to the report. The biggest sales gains last year were made by Kia and Jeep, which were up 53 and 49 percent, respectively.
Most days, California must seem like Kazakhstan for the Big Three. Domestic products aren't so popular out West, where Toyota and Honda have long stood atop the sales charts. But not in 2011.
According to a report in Automotive News, both General Motors and Ford managed to bump Honda from its silver medal position in 2011, though Toyota still holds a commanding market share lead. In a storyline we've heard before, the twin natural disasters in Asia curbed Japanese production, causing a 4.5 point loss of market share. Toyota's market share dropped from 22.8 to 19.2 percent, while GM and Ford tied at 12.6 percent - ahead of Honda at 12.1.
Booming sales in the Golden State helped the domestics to their 1.8 point gain. New vehicle registrations in California were up 9.9 percent, according to the report. The biggest sales gains last year were made by Kia and Jeep, which were up 53 and 49 percent, respectively.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a recall alert for 2012 model year Honda Accord sedans and Honda Crosstour vehicles. The cars may have an air bag inflator that wasn't manufactured to specifications and may fail to deploy the driver's side- or passenger's side air bags during a collision.
According to the NHTSA, just under 350 of the Honda vehicles may have an issue with its side curtain air bag inflators. And American Honda Motors will begin notifying Accord and Crosstour owners affected by this recall on or about Feb. 10.
Honda says it will replace the side curtain air bags from the recalled Accords and Crosstalks free of charge.
For more information, consumers can call Honda's toll-free customer service line (800-424-9153) or visit the NHTSA's website: www.SaferCar.gov.
Honda has announced plans to enter the FIA World Touring Car Championship with this, a hot new racer based on the newly redesigned 2012 Civic (well, the European five-door, anyway). Details are slim about the new touring car racer, but the automaker has released a statement confirming that the Civic will be powered by a bespoke 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-four, developed by Honda R&D in accordance with FIA's Super 2000 regulations. Honda has also formed a joint partnership with Mugen and J.A.S. Motorsport to develop the new Civic.
So, how soon will we get to watch the new hatchback swap paint with other WTCC racers? Honda hopes to officially join WTCC this season, with some inaugural rounds possibly held in Japan, China and Macau. Following that, a two-car team will be entered into every race in the 2013 championship. Hit the jump for the full details.
Little guy: 1. Honda: 0. That's the results from Round One of Honda v. Civic Hybrid Owner. Which isn't to say that Honda didn't make a valiant effort. And we've got the 120-page evidence packet they submitted to prove it. So how exactly did Honda try to take down Heather Peters? More »
Heather Peters took on corporate giant Honda in a southern California small-claims court over the fuel economy of her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. And she won.
A former lawyer, Peters chose not to join a class-action suit that would reportedly pay out $100-$200 per owner and include a $1,000 credit toward a new car. Instead, she presented her own case in a Torrance, California, small-claims court where judgments are limited to $10,000, and she was awarded $9,867 yesterday.
By going this path, Peters avoided paying legal fees. For contrast, she cites fees as being $8.5 million for the trial lawyers proceeding with the class-action suit. An Associated Press report quotes Peters as saying she hopes the victory will encourage other Civic Hybrid owners to follow her example, and she has set up a website to help get them started: dontsettlewithhonda.org. (Car enthusiast blog Jalopnik has posted an interesting, related piece: “How You Can Sue An Automaker In Small Claims Court And Win.”)
The core issue for Peters is that Honda had advertised the Honda Civic Hybrid as delivering 50 miles per gallon, and she did not experience that figure. Worse, she says a battery-related software update further reduced her mileage down to no better than 30 mpg.
Consumer Reports’ testers were disappointed in the fuel economy results when we tested the 2006 Civic Hybrid. The car achieved 37 mpg overall, with 26 mpg in the city and 47 mpg on the highway.
At the time, it was EPA-rated at 50 mpg combined, 49 mpg city and 51 mpg highway, hence the source for Honda’s claims.
With the revised EPA fuel economy figures put in place for the 2008 model year for all passenger vehicles, the 2006 Civic Hybrid was adjusted to 42 mpg combined, with 40 mpg city and 45 mpg highway.
The revisions the EPA made to its fuel economy ratings have brought their numbers closer to what we feel car owners, in general, will experience in the real world. Even still, there can be notable variance with hybrids, particularly in city driving.
Clearly, results will vary based on driving style, fuel, terrain, speed, traffic flow, altitude, and weather.
Like Peters, many Honda Civic Hybrid car owners allege that a software update resulted in a reduction in fuel economy, but we have not verified that claim.
Consumer Reports feels the current EPA figures provide a solid, comparable basis for consumers to cross-shop vehicles. We had worked hard for years to encourage an update to the fuel economy ratings methodology to better reflect how cars are used today, compared against in the 1970s when the previous protocol was developed. Today, air conditioning is common, more time is spent in cities, and highway speeds are greater. Those considerations are factored into the revised methodology.
While the methods could be further enhanced, we feel the improvements make them far more useful.
Further, updates to window stickers for the 2013 model year and beyond provide much more information for consumers and should help people make informed comparisons right on dealers’ lots. If fuel economy is a priority when shopping for your next vehicle, we recommend checking our test results. The video below shows how we test fuel economy.
