Tag: 2020

American Honda Motors Back In Production Monday With Economic Headwinds Predicted

2020_Honda_Civic_Type-R
Bold new colors and upgrades for 2020 Honda Civic Type-R

American Honda Motor Company announced plans to come back on line in the US and Canada, while Corona virus continues to take a toll on all North American car and light truck sales. According to V.P. of Automotive Sales, Steve Centers, Honda will take a guarded approach to recovery, while anticipating economic Headwinds in the unknown

Honda’s Humanitarian efforts

Last month ‘Your Honda News’ reported Honda’s humanitarian efforts in North America, pledging $1 million for food challenged families. Honda has sense embarked on mask and ventilator production. Today, Honda along with all major North American Auto manufacturer’s look to dismal March and April sales reports, while attempting to measure market recovery, not an easy task.

Car sales tank in wake of Corona Virus, Economic Headwinds Predicated

Car sales in the US, Honda’s largest market, have effectively stalled as consumers look to an uncertain health and financial future.

Despite government stimulus checks and federally subsidized unemployment payments, health, home and food, take precedent over long term financial commitments.

Looking to American Honda’s April 2020 Automotive sales report, dealerships took an extreme financial haircut, with Honda and Acura car and light truck sales down trending by – 53.8%.

Honda is not alone in this, with all car, truck and motorcycle manufacturers on Earth impacted by the Corona Virus pandemic.

In past years Honda’s effectively staged production ramp ups, and down turns in line with dealership demand, and will do so as State Governor’s loosen social distancing restrictions impacting on-lot car sales.

Car Dealers Go Virtual

With many dealerships now offering virtual car tours, and, comprehensive finance and buy tools, Honda looks to an uptick in on-line internet activity to turn sagging car sales around. As demonstrated here.

Centers and Honda Take Guarded Approach

“There will be challenging days ahead as this very serious public health crisis continues, but with consumer traffic beginning to increase online and at Honda and Acura dealerships, we are approaching the coming weeks with guarded optimism,” said Steven Center, vice president of Automobile Sales at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “We value the actions of our Honda associates and dealers as we work to align our business with changing market conditions, and we are now turning our attention to creating momentum for a broader recovery.”

A Buy Opportunity

As Corona virus restrictions ease and the economy ramps back up, there may be a measurable discount buy opportunity for consumers. Here’s what Honda’s offering at the corporate level. Check with your local Honda dealer for additional dealership incentives.

Photo attribution: AHMC 2020

2020 Honda Civic Type R Loaded with Upgraded Motor Sport and Safety for Street and Track

Refreshed 2020 Honda Civic Type-R Revealed Photo Attributes: AHMC 2020

First Look, U.S. Auto Press reveal: 2020 Honda Civic Type R comes to the U.S. market loaded with upgraded motor sport and safety upgrades. Yet, outside of the ‘Boost Blue’ body paint scheme, and a mild re-do of Civic’s iconic 3-D grill design, little would appear to have changed for Honda’s quickest production car, Yet, there’s more to Civic Type R then initially meets the eye. We take a closer look at the hottest hatchback in the segment. Well, I’m impressed.

Honda Civic Type-R Brings Extreme Motor Sport Safety to Street and Track

For those of you who read your Honda news and reviews here, it won’t come as a surprise that I’m a bit bullish on the 2nd generation Civic Type-R; actually the first production Civic to wear the iconic Type-R designation in the United States. The former was the manufactured in Japan, Acura Integra Type R; A great car for the day, but not in the same turbocharged performance class as the current Civic Type-R.

Introduced to North America in late 2016 as a very limited production street and track ready performance hatchback, the manufactured in England Civic Type-R remained largely unchanged until now. Read Early Honda Type-R history here.

Civic Type-R Drive experience

2017 Civic Type R (European Version) AHMC 2017

Thanks to our friends at American Honda, we’ve enjoyed road and track time in Civic Type R. We drive Civic Type-R through the California Redwoods here. But initially, while a unique, edgy looking and comfortable track ready street offering, Civic Type-R was missing a feature or two as pioneered by Honda in the compact sport segment. That all changes for the better in 2020 with the addition of several performance upgrades and a major standard equipped safety feature.

Here’s the short list: Seriously, don’t throw your earlier Civic Type-R in the crusher. But, there’s a notable upgrade or two for 2020 that will be appreciated by those who demand a bit more comfort and safety from their track-ready daily commuter. Honda engineering presents improved rear suspension dampening for overall ride comfort; while stiffer rear bushings insure a stickier handling dynamic for greater control at high speeds.

Reduced brake fade at high speeds

For model year 2020 an already exceptional brake system is improved with upgraded two-piece brake rotors and brake pads. The purpose here is to reduce high speed brake fade. I’ve taken Civic Type-R way north of 100 MPH, and haven’t experienced noticeable brake fade. So, I’ll make the bold assumption that the brake system upgrade is intended for the Track.

Up front we discover an improved suspension dynamic most noticeable at higher speeds: again, Type-R is designed to dive aggressively under all road and weather conditions. And, with 306 horsepower and 295 ft-lb at hand, getting there is not a problem!

Honda SENSING now standard equipment for Type-R

Civic_Type_R _Driver's _Seat
The best driver’s seat in the segment Photo Attribute: Parks McCants 2017

I’m not sure how Honda does it. But for 2020, Civic Type-R will come standard equipped with Honda SENSING, Honda’s award winning driver assist and safety suite. I’ll assume the safety suite includes adaptive cruise control as demonstrated on the streets of Los Angeles. Also, the 2.0 Liter direct injected 4 cylinder VTEC gasoline engine will run cooler under high speeds thanks to the redesigned grill.

New Colors and more

Beyond the addition of a new color, Boost Blue, as pictured in our headline, electronic active sound control, or in this case, cab sound injection, will increase and decrease engine generated exhaust tones to the inside of the cabin in relationship to the drive mode elected. Pretty cool stuff! As of this posting Honda has not published MSRP for the refreshed 2020 Civic Type-R. I’ll keep you up to date as news breaks here.