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(Credit:
Ford)
Remember when the bottom dropped out of the economy and everyone was screaming for small, inexpensive, and fuel efficient cars? Well, they're here; and they're in Los Angeles.
Small cars ruled the roost at the 2009 LA Auto Show, with marquees such as the Ford Fiesta, the Mazda Mazda2, and the VW Up Lite attracting a lot of attention and stealing the spotlight from bigger more powerful cars.
Check out our gallery of small cars at the 2009 LA Auto Show for a closer look.
The Honda P-NUT was the strangest thing on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
In a time when most automakers limit their new production, Honda showed the most creative flair at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show with its Personal-Neo Urban Transport (P-NUT) concept. The P-NUT explores new ideas for small city cars, using a 1+2 layout, with rear seats that can fold up, turning the car into a delivery cart. Honda has some interesting ideas for how the driver would interact with the car, and specifies a head-up display for the broad windshield.
Don't expect the P-NUT to ever hit production; it is pure concept. Honda merely suggests some ideas that would work for its powerplant, from a traditional internal combustion engine to an electric drive unit.
LOS ANGELES -- The launch advertising declared the Honda Insight "the hybrid for everyone."
"We don't want a car for a sliver of the market," Steve Center, Honda vice president of advertising and public relations, said at the launch in March.
And in a transparent dig at the Toyota Prius, he added, "This is going to be a populist's car, not an elitist's car."
But so far, the Insight's sales look like a sliver.
Honda's initial 90,000-unit U.S. sales goal was revised to 60,000 because of the weak economy. But sales of the Insight since its March launch total just 17,530, for an annual sales rate of about 25,000, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
The conclusion after eight months: The Insight badly trails the segment-leading Prius, although the Insight is selling better than other rival hybrids.
... Read more
You would be hard-pressed to find a car with a smaller engine for sale in the U.S., and have equal difficulty finding on in this price range that offers navigation as an option. The 2010 Fit Sport is a practical little city car with an interior that somehow seems bigger than the exterior. From a tech perspective, it has its faults, such as a pretty average drive train, and it also faces increased competition from Toyota, Nissan, and Kia. But it still manages to hold its own.
As a preview to the 2009 Los Angeles auto show, Honda sent out some tantalizing words--but no photos--of a new concept it will display. The Personal-Neo Urban Transport (P-NUT) concept is described by Honda as an "ultra-compact, aggressively designed coupe". Given the word "personal" in the concept's name, though, we're assuming P-NUT will be less CRX and more Batcycle, probably with some electric drive technology thrown in.
When our coverage of the 2009 Los Angeles auto show starts on December 3, we will post photos and answer the question, what is P-NUT?
GM says yes to the Cadillac of Volts, eBay offers some free online car buying protection, electric cars you fill up--not charge up--and a ride in a car that has the Sport on it, but not really in it.
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EPISODE 144
SHOW NOTES• GM will build the Cadillac Converj
• TomTom iPhone app gets better--but not cheaper
• Europe envisions cars forming highway trains
Japanese auto companies are bailing out of international motorsports, trying to save money during the global auto crunch.
Last week Toyota dropped out of Formula One racing, two days after tire supplier Bridgestone did, too. Honda quit the series last December. No Japanese teams remain in F1.
At the end of 2008, Subaru maker Fuji Heavy Industries and Suzuki withdrew from the FIA World Rally Championship. And in July, Fuji International Speedway, owned by Toyota, surrendered hosting rights for the Japanese Grand Prix in 2010 and beyond.
The moves reflect the absence of auto profits. When Honda pulled out of F1 racing, it estimated the move could save nearly $1 billion.
Toyota didn't divulge its annual F1 budget, but some think it's around $300 million. That was a tidy sum for a carmaker that posted losses last year--both in its financials and on the track. Since joining Formula One in 2002, Toyota hasn't won a single race.
(Source: Automotive News)
This Honda S2000 sports the ugly-but-effective Mooncraft Hardtop.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)We caught sight of this car while out on a photo shoot. Some of it is a Honda S2000, normally a roadster but modified into coupe form. A little Web research told us that this body mod is from Mooncraft, a Japanese design firm long involved in motorsports. Many Web sites refer to the Mooncraft hardtop for the S2000 as "infamous," but it apparently increases the car's acceleration times due to its aerodynamics.
When the Acura TSX Sport Wagon arrives, it will look something like this...but with a pointier Acura beak.
(Credit: Honda)Wagon fans rejoice!
After the public's abysmal reception of the Accord Crosstour and the Acura ZDX, Honda has decided to bring the Accord Touring to North American shores. This is a proper wagon, not an odd genre-bending XUV. The model will wear a 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon badge and will be available in fall 2010.
If you remember, the Honda Accord Touring was listed among our Top 10 awesome wagons you can't have. As you'd expect, we're very excited to see it coming off of that list.
Although the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show just kicked open its doors for the public this last weekend, industry insiders got a head start on sampling the bevy of automobiles that are debuting. One of these lucky insiders included Alistair Weaver of Inside Line fame, courtesy of Edumunds.com. Here, Alistair gives us all a teaser on the many new vehicles presented at the Tokyo Motor Show, and this is merely the tip of the iceberg.
In this video clip, Inside Line cherry shows a few more cars worthy of Web airtime. While the show seems to be short on American and European brands, there are plenty of interesting production models and concept cars to check out. Edmunds.com makes room for a couple of the forward-thinking "E-cars" that will undoubtedly be only available in limited quantities, as well as hybrid cars from Honda, Mitsubishi, and the Subaru that has doors straight out of "Back to the Future." And if you think it's all hippy-dippy cars on parade, wait till you check out the badass Lexus at the end of the clip.
