The very first spy shot of the Honda Elysion MPV testing in China. The Elysion will be listed on the Chinese car market in July, it will be made in China by the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture. Power will come from a 2.4, price will start around 200.000 yuan. Via: Sohu.

Spy shots from the Honda CR-Z hybrid coupe testing in China. The CR-Z ain’t on the Chinese car market yet but Honda seems to have some plans. Big question for now is: will it be imported or locally made?

When Honda wants to enjoy new tax-brakes for hybrid cars it has to produce locally. If they do, they will likely do so under the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture. It might be imported first and made locally later. All a bit uncertain at the moment, we’ll keep you posted.

The Chinese source where I got this story from thought the car on pics was the new Honda Civic. It ain’t, it is the CR-Z indeed. Thanks to commenter Mr. Matthew for being more awake than I was…

Sohu.com.

The Chinese Honda Odyssey will get a facelift. The Odyssey is one of the most poplar MPV’s on the Chinese car market and is always in fierce competition with the Buick GL8. The facelifted car will debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April.

The current Odyssey, made in China by the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture. In June last year we heard that Honda applied for patent in China on the US-version of the Odyssey, which is a much bigger and more up-market car. Honda will likely bring that one to China as well, as an import and under a different name, aimed at the high-end MPV market. And to make the party complete, Honda will also start building the Elysion MPV in China at the Dongfeng-Honda joint venture.

Price of the current Odyssey starts at 199.800 yuan and ends at 279.3oo yuan. Only engine is a 2.4 with 180hp and 218nm. Engine will continue in the new car, price will be about the same.

Via: Sohu.com.

The Honda Elysion MPV will be made in China by the Dongfeng-Honda joint venture. Production will start in May and it will enter the market in July. A very first pre-production Elysion is expected to debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April.

Power will come from a 2.4 mated to a 5-speed automatic, good for 181hp. Drive train: 4×2 or 4×4. Price yet unknown but it is a big car with a big engine, so a good guess is a start from around 200.000 yuan.

Via: Autohome.

Chinese-made cars have quietly arrived in North America for the first time, but without the bamboo dashboards and quirky names that have adorned them at recent auto shows.

Japanese automaker Honda is crossing the threshold by importing subcompact cars into Canada from one of its plants in China. This month, Honda Canada began receiving its smallest model, the Fit, from China instead of Japan, as part of a strategy to produce more vehicles outside its home country.

The decision allows Honda to eke out higher profit in a segment of the auto market where margins are extremely thin, especially since the high value of the yen cuts into all Japanese automakers’ overseas operations.

“The yen has been getting stronger and stronger,” Jerry Chenkin, executive vice president of Honda Canada, said on Tuesday.

Few car shoppers are likely to notice the change, and there is no expectation that Chinese-made cars are destined for the United States anytime soon. But the Honda imports are significant because vehicles are among the few categories of consumer products in North America for which manufacturers had not turned to China to try to cut costs.

“There’s been much talk about Chinese cars being sold in North America, but we hadn’t seen that yet,” said Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst with Edmunds.com, an automotive research Web site. “These are from a well-known, major global automaker, so that eliminates some of the challenges that face Chinese automakers.”

All the major automakers have plants in China, which they generally use to make vehicles to sell there. Only 3 percent, or 580,000, of the vehicles built in China last year were exported. Many automakers are reluctant to use that capacity to supply other countries because they want to maximize sales in China, now the world’s largest car market.

Mr. Chenkin said that the move had relatively little to do with direct costs. He declined to comment about wage differences between Japan and China.

“From what I understand, in terms of the cost of production for the Fit, the difference between China and Japan is not significant,” he said. “But the exposure of the yen exchange rate is of concern to Honda and other manufacturers.”

Lower disposable incomes and higher gasoline prices in Canada mean that small cars like the Fit are more popular there than in the United States. Honda’s profit on the Fit is further squeezed by a 6.1 percent import duty, while many competing models enter Canada duty-free because they are made in Mexico or the United States.

Honda is building a plant in Mexico that is scheduled to start assembling the Fit for the United States and other countries in early 2014. Honda is likely to use that plant to supply Canada as well, most likely making the importing from China a temporary measure.

Honda has been exporting the Fit from China to 27 countries, mainly in Europe where it is sold as the Jazz, for about five years, so there is no concern in Canada about the quality of its production, Mr. Chenkin said.

“We are fully confident that these vehicles meet all Honda standards,” he said. The company has imported electrical power generators to Canada from Honda plants in China for some time without encountering quality issues or customer resistance, he said.

John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, said that there were no plans to supply dealers in the United States with Chinese-made Fits.

Ms. Krebs said Honda and other automakers would have a more difficult time selling cars assembled in China to Americans than to Canadians and Europeans. Although made-in-China products are common in the United States, most cost a small fraction of the price of a car. Even established automakers like Honda are hesitant to risk turning off buyers with Chinese imports, particularly because the United States is an important source of profit and prestige.

“Canada’s always been much more open to cars from places that it was not acceptable for the U.S.,” Ms. Krebs said. “Honda has a production system that it uses every place in the world. Consumers can be pretty confident that the same standards apply.”

Analysts note that American car shoppers were largely skeptical of Japanese and Korean vehicles in their early days here and would tend to react similarly to models made in China, at least initially. A study earlier this year by the consulting firm GfK Automotive found that about one-third of Americans were open to buying a car from China. Younger respondents were more amenable.

The Fit is a relatively small-volume car in Canada, with sales of 2,802 through November. That is down 55 percent from the same period in 2010, largely because of supply shortages in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.

Honda has a large manufacturing presence in Canada, where it builds the Civic, several Acura models and engines. It is hiring an additional 400 workers in Alliston, Ontario, where production of CR-V sport utility vehicles will begin next month.

Via: NewYorkTimes.

Honda will bring the Fit EV to the Guangzhou Auto Show. The full electric will be made in China by the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture. Listing is expected for sometime early 2012 and that will make the Fit EV the first electric car made in China by a Chinese-foreign joint venture.

The electric motor has decent power: 136hp and 250nm, mated to a 6kw lithium battery. Top speed is 90km/h, range about 160km. Charging on standard 120-volt takes a long 12 hours, with 240-volt it takes 6 hours and with a special supercharger only two hours.

Techspec fine and fun but the real question will be the price. Can Guangzhou-Honda make it cheap enough to sell to the masses? Even with all subsidies included electric cars are still expensive in China.

Other thingy that slightly matters is the complete lack of a charging-infrastructure… All taken, I don’t think the Fit EV will be a success.

Via: Autohome.

The Honda City will get a facelift for the Chinese market, the new car will debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show later this month. The Honda City is made in China by the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture. Biggest changes are up front with a new grille, bumper and spoiler.

Current Honda City. Enginewise nothing will change; 1.5 or 1.8, mated to a 5-speed auto or 5-speed manual. Price of the current car starts at 75.900 yuan and ends at 149.800 yuan. Prices for the facelifted car will be almost the same.

Facelifted City. Back almost completely redesigned, compare with current car:

Via: 163.com.

Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co and Guangqi Honda Automobile Co will recall 255,766 vehicles to repair problems with power window switches, the country’s quality watchdog said Sept 5.

The recall involved 145,542 Fit compacts, 81,547 City sedans and 28,677 CR-V multi-purpose vehicles as of Sept 15, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website.

The autos were produced between August 2005 to December 2007, the statement said.The two companies will offer free replacement of power window switches to eliminate risks, it said.

Via: ChinaDaily.

The Honda Fit Sport will be listed on the China car market next year, debut likely at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show. The Fit Sports features skirts, spoilers and special alloys but sadly no power hike, it will use the standard 1.5 with 88kw and 145nm. The Fit is made in China by the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture. Via: Autohome.

Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday it was cutting its 2011 car sales target for China by 13 percent as Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March disrupted its supply chain and forced production cutbacks, Reuters reported.

Honda lowered its sales target for China to 638,000 cars, down from its initial target of 731,500, and 2 percent lower than its 2010 sales, the report said.

Honda does not give a calendar year target for global sales. It expects to sell 3.3 million cars for the financial year to March, 6 percent lower from last year.

Honda last month forecast a worse-than-expected 65 percent fall in annual operating profit, bracing itself against a strong yen and rising raw materials prices, the report said.

It said it expects production in China to normalize by the end of July and that it will ramp up output in the second half of the year, but will not be able to fully offset the lost production.

Via: ChinaDaily.