Honda Civic platform to be smaller, lighter

Mitsubishi plans new compact crossover; GM expects first sales gain in 21 months

Oct 31, 2009

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Special to the Star

Honda has announced that its next compact Civic platform will be smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient than originally designed.

The Civic's new product strategy is part of an overall plan of building less expensive and more fuel-efficient Hondas. It's also the reason why Honda's killing its V8 engine and rear-wheel-drive programs.

"We are taking more time to rethink the new Civic and all our models," Honda CEO Takanobu Ito told Automotive News. "We had to revisit our development work and planning to comply with the change in the environment."

The next Civic originally was planned to be larger than the current model, but now its exterior will be smaller.

Making such midstream changes, though, can be costly and cause significant delays in releasing a new product.

If Honda follows a typical five-year cycle, the redesigned Civic is due to arrive sometime in 2010.

Delaying the new platform would have a "ripple effect" across the Japanese automaker's lineup. Vehicles such as the CR-V, Element and Acura CSX are all based on the Civic's platform.

Mitsubishi's brand plans

As part of Mitsubishi's plans to reposition its brand as a maker of small cars, the Japanese automaker is trying to jump-start its lineup of fuel-efficient global models with an emphasis on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The next piece of that puzzle will be a new compact crossover called the Outlander Sport that Mitsubishi has confirmed will be sold in North America.

Based on the Concept cX, first shown at the Frankfurt auto show in 2007, the small, five-passenger crossover will be a global model based on the compact Lancer sedan platform.

Smaller than the existing Outlander, Mitsubishi has said the Outlander Sport will have a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine and come in front- and all-wheel-drive versions.

The small crossover is set to hit North American showrooms about a year from now after it goes on sale in Japan next February and makes its debut at the Geneva auto show in March.

GM expects sales gain

General Motors is likely to post its first year-over-year monthly sales gain in 21 months when automakers report sales figures on Tuesday, a top GM sales analyst says.

GM last reported a sales increase over the same month of the previous year in January of 2008, Mike DiGiovanni, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, said. GM's vehicles sold poorly last October, though, down 45 per cent from October of 2007 when U.S. financial markets were collapsing.

Also in October, GM should see its third straight U.S. market share gain, falling into the 20 per cent to 21 per cent range despite shedding four brands and trying to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, DiGiovanni said.

He predicted U.S. light vehicle sales for October will rise to an annual rate of 10.5 million, up dramatically from September's 9.2 million. He said the U.S. auto market is not out of trouble yet but is showing signs of recovery.

Ford reliability improves

The Bible for new car reliability ratings, Consumers Reports, has released its Annual Car Reliability Survey. And it looks like Ford is pulling ahead of its domestic rivals in matching the Japanese.

In family sedans, only the Toyota Prius ranked higher for reliability than the four-cylinder Ford Fusion. Consumer Reports said about 90 per cent of Fords were rated "average" or "better-than-average" in reliability

In fact, the Fusion bettered the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. While Lincoln's version of the Fusion, the MKZ, scored higher than the Acura TL and Lexus ES.

General Motors had 20 out of 48 models surveyed rated average, while the Chevrolet Malibu V6 received better-than-average scores.

Chrysler's reliability woes continue. More than one-third of its products rated "much worse than average."

Of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 are Asian: Toyota had 18, Honda had eight, Nissan had four, and Hyundai/Kia and Subaru each had three.

Consumer Reports said that a large margin separates the most reliable cars from the worst. The least reliable vehicle, the Volkswagen Touareg, is 27 times more likely to have a problem than the Honda Insight, named the most reliable car.

Production records set

Japanese automakers are experiencing a production boom in China with Toyota, Honda and Nissan setting records for September – the latest signs of an emerging recovery for Japan's auto industry.

Honda Motor Co.'s production set a record for the company in both China and Asia overall for September, although total overseas production has been declining for a year.

Japan's No. 2 automaker produced 60,741 vehicles in China, up 20 per cent from the same month a year earlier. Toyota Motor Corp. produced 64,880 vehicles in China in September, up 37 per cent from the same month last year and the best results for September.

China has been widening its lead over the U.S. as the world's top auto market, with the industry's September sales jumping 78 per cent over a year earlier. Sales in smaller cities have been booming as automakers rush to woo first-time car buyers with new models.

— With files from Star news services

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