2012 Honda Ridgeline Sport

The 2012 Honda Ridgeline Sports sets itself apart from the competition with its uber-stylish lines and look, along with a few practical innovations. Other pickups are blown away by the 2012 Honda Ridgeline four-wheel-drive system, which includes a differential lock. The 2012 Honda Ridgeline Sport provides an appropriately brute yet stylish stance.
The Ridgeline also offers some innovation and practical aspects with engineering mirroring the Honda Fit’s Magic Seat. The tailgate swings out or opens in the traditional manner as well. The truck comes with four full doors as a crew cab, along with compartments buried under the bed floor.

Honda's new Accord brings investment, jobs to Ohio

CINCINNATI — Honda's new Accord sedan to be unveiled Monday at a central Ohio plant has led to more than $220 million in investments and more jobs in two of its other Ohio plants, with companies that supply Honda with products and services also getting a boost.

Economic development officials in central Ohio are hopeful the new Accord to be produced at Honda's Marysville plant in Union County will lead to even more Honda investment in Ohio and bring more economic benefits to their areas.

"Every time Honda has invested in Ohio over its 30 years here, it's meant more jobs," said Eric Phillips, executive director for the Union County Economic Development Partnership. "If the Accord continues to be as successful as it has been, we're hoping that it might lead to additional investments and even more jobs here."

Phillips said area officials are hoping that Honda will choose the county as the site for production of its new version of the Acura NSX sports car. Honda has not yet announced the exact location, but says it will be near one of its Ohio plants.

The Accord competes in the biggest segment of the U.S. auto market and is often No. 2 on the list of best-selling cars behind the Toyota Camry. The 2013 Accord will begin production at the Marysville plant on Monday with Gov. John Kasich and Honda of America President and CEO Hide Iwata attending.

Production of new engines and transmissions for the new Accord began this week at west-central Ohio plants in Russells Point and Anna, where the manufacturer has added about 150 jobs between the two facilities. The Russells Point plant is providing the Accord's transmissions, with the Anna plant producing its engines and eventually the high-tech pulley components for Honda's new continuously variable transmission technology. That technology, to be deployed for the first time in the United States in 2013, will improve fuel efficiency and driving performance, Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke said.

Paul Benedetti, president and chief executive of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce, said investment in the new model already has helped boost that county's economy, combined with the increased flow of auto parts that had been interrupted when Japanese factories were damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Unemployment in the last year has dropped to 6.2 percent from the previous 8.3 percent in the county that is home to the Russells Point plant. Benedetti said Honda's investment has meant improved business for many Honda suppliers there, resulting in an estimated 700 new jobs.

"It's not just that Honda has been hiring, but we have openings for other immediate positions to be filled," he said.

In Union County, a Honda supplier of tooling and automation products has already added 10 employees and expects to more than double its total of 40 employees as a result of the new model and increased production in Marysville.

"We're so confident that we are planning to build a new larger facility," said Bassam Homsi, president of Autotool Inc. in Plain City.

Kasich spokeswoman Connie Wehrkamp said the new model is "great news" for the 13,500 Ohioans employed by Honda and for the tens of thousands employed by its Ohio suppliers.

Asimo has a friend! Honda debuts Miimo robotic lawnmower

People who know me say that if it weren't for Autoblog, I'd probably be running a site called Mowerblog. I'm unusual in that lawn mowing, to me, is a form of relaxation, a hobby like knitting or racquetball is for someone else. As such, I try to buy the best equipment, and that means there's a Honda mower in my garage.

You didn't know? The company that builds the Accord and Civic are to lawn mowers what Lamborghini is to cars. But today, Honda has introduced a new mower called Miimo that takes me out of the equation entirely. Miimo is an autonomous robotic mower that Honda will be selling in the European market only (for now) starting in 2013.

Miimo runs on power supplied by its lithium-ion battery pack and, just like a Roomba robotic vacuum, will return to its charging station for a fresh batch of electrons when it runs out. Upon purchase, an authorized installer will set up the charging station, as well as run the boundary wire around the perimeter of the yard in which Miimo has to stay. The mower can operate in a random pattern (again, like a Roomba), a directional mode where it mows back and forth in lines, or a combination of the two. As for safety, Miimo has bump sensors so it won't break any potted plants, and if lifted off the ground, its blades will automatically stop and starting up again requires entering a unique PIN number.

Miimo will come in two models, 300 and 500, which refer to their maximum perimeter cuts, and according to Honda, a 500 can mow up to 3,000 square meters or three quarters of an acre. Honda hasn't mentioned pricing, but going by the cost of its push mowers in the U.S., Europeans should expect to pay a premium for giving Asimo's best friend a home.

Will the Miimo replace my HRX217VKA? Probably not anytime soon. While the market for robotic lawnmowers is growing, especially with green-conscious homeowners searching for less-polluting lawn care equipment, human supervision is still required and, at least for people like me, buying a Miimo would mean giving up those precious few hours a week where I can't hear the rest of the world over the sound of the blades.

2013 Honda Accord Drives the Streets Sans Sound

The latest footage of the 2013 Honda Accord B-footage is out, and without a soundtrack, the video is pure and simple. A couple of days ago Honda began production of the 2013 Honda Accord, and now we are seeing more and more clips of the soon to be revealed sedan. The 2013 Honda Accord is expected to be coming to the dealership next month, though pricing has yet to be released. The 2013 Honda Accord will be competing with the 2013 Nissan Altima, 2013 Ford Fusion and 2012 Toyota Camry.
The video shows a metallic beige sedan, with options of 2.4L 4-cylinder, 3.5L V-6 and a plug-in hybrid with an automatic or 6-speed manual transmission.

New Honda Civic Type-R approved

Those of you lucky enough to have had the Honda Civic Type R will get another one: Autocar reports that Honda has approved the next-generation of its much-lusted-after hot hatch and will make an announcement at the Paris Motor Show. The return of the Type R was speculated on last year in an Auto Express story, but this news puts Honda's imprimatur on the Type R's arrival. After the purported Paris announcement, the timeline is for a Geneva Motor Show reveal and an on-sale date in about a year from now.

If the report is to be believed, the next CTR will not have the naturally aspirated K20 VTEC engine pointing the way – that motor's lack of compliance with Euro emissions regulations being the reason the Civic Type R was discontinued. The Auto Express report predicts a 210-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder developed by Mugen – that would be up 12 horsepower from the 2010 model, but down 46 horses on the limited edition Type R tuned by Mugen that was "a tribute to the Honda K20" engine and part of the last model's run. It's said the 2013 will feature a stop/start system and a six-speed manual.

We'll be on the lookout for official news in Paris, and as with previous Type R models and the five-door bodystyle seen above, we don't expect this car to come to the U.S.
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Honda delivers first Fit EV in California

Honda has made good on its promise to deliver its first Fit EV, and that delivery took place in California on Friday. Matt and Becky Walton, of Ventura County, can now claim they have the first example of Honda's all-electric car, which costs $389 a month. The Waltons got the first Fit EV because they were the first ones to sign up for a lease at the car's website. They've owned at least four other Hondas, the automaker says, going back to the 1970s.

In a statement, Matt said, "It's truly an honor to take delivery of the first Honda Fit EV and participate in the advancement of all-electric vehicles in the real world," but he didn't mention the fact that Honda's "real-world" EV push is, in this case at least, available for a limited time only, and in limited areas. Leases start in California and Oregon now and will expand to the East Coast early next year.

The EPA rated the Fit EV at 118 MPGe and gives it an official range of 82 miles. The car's highly efficient energy consumption is 29 kWh per 100 miles. Read our First Drive review of the Fit EV here.
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