Honda Int’l | emotorscanada.com

Honda Civic Continues Its Canadian Reign of Power

Filed under Honda Int'l by staff on March 29, 2010 at 5:05 pm {no comments}

When Canada loves something, it’s not swayed by recent trends and marketing schemes. Canadians aren’t rushing out to buy low-calorie, super-light beers nor did they love the FOX Glowing Puck.

If there’s one thing that Canadians love as much as Beer and Hockey, it’s the Honda Civic.

According to Canadian Driver, the Honda Civic has topped the Canadian Passenger Vehicle Sales Chart for the 12th year in a row. In 2009, 62,654 Total Honda Civics (Sedans, Coupes, and Hybrids) were sold across this great land. In total, that makes over 1.5 Million Civics sold to Canadians since 1973. Badda Bing!

While the Civic fell short of the Ford F-Series Pick-up which sold 81396 units in 2009, it topped the Passenger Vehicle list for the 2009 Calender year, including the final month of December.

The Final Sales Numbers for 2009 Passenger Cars

Honda Civic (62,654 sold)
Toyota Corolla (53,933)
Mazda3 (46,943)
Hyundai Elantra (30,675)
Hyundai Accent (25,220)
Toyota Yaris (23,773)
Toyota Matrix (22,526)
Ford Focus (21,831)
Nissan Versa (20,097)
Ford Fusion (16,526)

The Final Sales Numbers for 2009 Light Trucks

Ford F-Series (81,396 sold)
Dodge Caravan (40,283)
GMC Sierra (37,316)
Ford Escape (36,980)
Chevrolet Silverado (36,428)
Dodge Ram (30,621)
Toyota RAV4 (25,784)
Hyundai Santa Fe (24,676)
Ford Ranger (20,715)
Honda CR-V (18,554)

Honda CR-V Excels in Motor Trend’s Compact Crossover Tests

Filed under Honda Int'l by staff on March 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm {no comments}

Motor Trend decided that it needed to know what Compact Crossover’s 4-banger was ready for the big-stage. The 2010 Honda CR-V, 2010 GMC Terrain, 2010 Hyundai Tucson and 2010 Subaru Forester were compared in every conceivable manner

In May of 2008, Motor Trend first took a look of the 4-Cylinder Compact Crossovers, Subaru’s Forester won going away. Since then, the Forester hasn’t seen many improvements, while Honda’s CR-V has seen 14 more horses crammed into the front-end (180HP).

Motor Trend wasn’t hesitant to lob praise, “This is when Honda is getting it all right,” said Harwood of the ‘trend. With a new-for-’10 DOHC 2.4 liter, which sports a higher 10.5:1 compression ratio, larger intake valves and a higher flow-rate exhaust, the CR-V’s horsepower took a nice little jump.

The CR-V is perfectly weighted to take advantage of upper-class power across the board. The interior is also living large, with probably the best quality leather & plastics of the group. Motor Trend raves,

Great interior packaging with lots of space (feels wide inside), a roomy, reclining back seat, the most cargo room (love the shelf), and useful storage bins in the center console and dash.

…and the winner was (considering this is in the Honda Category, take a guess)

1ST PLACE: HONDA CR-V 4WD EX-L
Composed chassis, premium materials, and a jewel of an engine equal winner.

“In a class by itself in quality feel, classy interior materials, and carefully wrought details — looks and feels like a premium piece,” says St. Antoine. Harwood summarizes the Honda as follows: “This isn’t just the smart decision when looking at crossovers, it appeals to the emotions too. Both sides of the brain would be very happy with the CR-V.” True enough.

Warrantech Corporation Recognizes Honda For Reliability in 2009

Filed under Honda Int'l by staff on March 29, 2010 at 3:13 pm {no comments}

Warrrentech Corporation has recognized three Honda Vehicles for their performance in reliability.

Of all the vehicles coming out of the Asian Market in 2009, the Honda Pilot, Honda Civic and the Honda CR-V were recognized as the best.

The Pilot, Civic and CR-V were found to require fewer overall repairs than the competition.

Warrantech Corporation is a leading independent provider of service contracts and after-market warranties for the automotive, electronics, computer, furniture and home industries.

The actuarial department analyzed it’s claim-data on various vehicles in order to compile the list, so at the very least, we’re dealing with real data rather than theoretical hodge-podge. The results were analyzed by region in order to provide a list of cars with the lowest cost of ownership.

Honda swept the Asian Market, with Ford and Volkswagen doing the same in their respective markets. Warrantech focused solely on consumer non-luxury brands, focusing mainly on Sedans and Pick-Up trucks.

Best Asian Vehicles

The Honda Pilot as recognized as the best Asian Passenger Sedan, along with the Honda Civic and the Honda CR-V also getting the nod.

Best Domestic Vehicles

The Ford Ranger and Ford F150 took home the awards for the best domestic Pick-Up trucks; with the Ford Escape winning the best Domestic Compact Sedan award.

Best European Vehicles

The Volkswagen Beetle, Jetta and Passat excelled in the Sedan market, taking home the awards for best European Compact and Passenger sedans, respectively.

The only question that I have with these rankings is whether or not they reflect the overall market, or simply the Warrantech Market. From the Looks of it, Honda, Ford and Volkswagen may be the biggest distributors of Warrantech after-market warranties.

Jeanine Folz of Warrantech had this to say:

Consumers want dependable transportation, and automobile manufacturers have worked diligently to increase the reliability of their vehicles over the years. The results of Warrantech’s actuarial study reflect this trend. Today, more than ever before, automobile manufacturers are focused on quality control, and the reliability of some models sets them apart from the rest.

Honda Vehicles Recognized By Canadian Black Book

Filed under Honda Int'l by staff on March 29, 2010 at 2:49 pm {no comments}

Canadian Black Book has recognized Honda Motors as a market leader in Retained Value. Three Honda vehicles have placed in Canadian Black Book’s fifth annual Retained Value Awards. The 2010 Honda Accord took home the award for best Midsized Vehicle and the 2010 Pilot managed to capture the award for best midsized-SUV. Once again, the Honda Odyssey was recognized for best mini-van in the 2010 model year.

The winners of each of the 17 different categories were determined from actual value retained from the manufacturer suggested retail price, measured over a four-year period.

Canadian Black Book originated these awards to help consumers identify which vehicles retain the highest percentage of their original value. While a high retained value score isn’t always indicative of future reliability, it’s a strong indicator for how a vehicle should perform — If I remember correctly, correlation doesn’t equal causation.

These are one of the more important awards as they help consumers identify which vehicles have the highest chance of retaining value, and thus, lowering the overall cost of ownership.

To no one’s surprise, Honda took home first place in 3 of the 17 different categories placing second overall behind Toyota’s terrific showing. The complete list of winners are:

Best Retained Value for a Subcompact Car: Toyota Yaris

Best Retained Value for a Compact Car: Mazda5

Best Retained Value for a Midsized Car: Three-way Tie ( Honda Accord, Subaru Outback & Vokswagen Passat)

Best Retained Value for a Full-Size Car: Toyota Avalon

Best Retained Value for an Entry Level Luxury Car: Lexus IS Series

Best Retained Value for a Luxury Car: Three-way Tie (BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class)

Best Retained Value for a Sports Car: Two-way Tie (Mini Cooper and Volkswagen GTI)

Best Retained Value for a Premium Sports Car: Porsche 911

Best Retained Value for a Compact SUV: Toyota RAV4

Best Retained Value for a Mid-size SUV: Honda Pilot

Best Retained Value for a Full-Size SUV: Two-way Tie (Nissan Armada, Toyota Sequoia)

Best Retained Value for a Luxury SUV: Mercedes-Benz G-Class

Best Retained Value for a Mini-Van: Honda Odyssey

Best Retained Value for a Large Van: Dodge Sprinter

Best Retained Value for a Small-Pickup: Toyota Tacoma

Best Retained Value for a Large-Pickup: Toyota Tundra

Honda Odyssey & Crosstour Top-10 Family Car Winners

Filed under Honda Int'l by staff on March 29, 2010 at 5:11 am {no comments}

Honda Odyssey & Crosstour are endorsed by Kelley Blue Book and Al Bundy — Crowd Celebrates.

On Thursday March 18th, Kelley Blue Book released it’s list of Top-10 2010 model vehicles for the modern family — not the ABC Show (two thumbs up!) although these cars would serve them well. Next time I get a chance to watch the show, I’ll be sure to write down their vehicle.

While the Chevy Suburban takes the cake, Honda’s more than happy to point out the praise thrown in their direction.

The 2010 Honda Odyssey comes in at number two:
We’ve always thought an Acura badge would look right at home on the sharply styled, thoroughly refined Honda Odyssey. The most premium-like minivan on the market was also our editors’ top pick in a recent segment comparison test, thanks to its ability to package versatility and amenities in a vehicle that is both comfortable and involving to drive.

With the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour coming in at a very, very solid 7th overall.

The 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour is everything we like about the Accord Sedan and more. It shares the same V6 engine, passenger room and overall styling with its sedan counterpart, but boasts almost twice the cargo capacity — a big win for families — thanks to its hatchback shape.

Used Cars In Ontario: A Great Time To Buy A Honda!

Filed under Honda Int'l by staff on March 29, 2010 at 4:52 am {no comments}

It’s the start of March and it’s a great time to look around for a used car.

Honda’s “Score a Honda” campaign with a large focus on The Honda Hat Trick: Quality, Reliability and Safety has finally wound down. Although, it seems they’re still running the ads in many major Ontario markets. I doubt they’d take it off the table if you were well qualified.

Now one of the leaders in the industry — and certainly, THE leader in the used-car industry, is beginning to pimp quite a few deals on HondaOntario.com

The eBay Deals in the left advertisement show that Hondas are still selling very strong, but I’ve seen at least two *terrific* deals in the last couple weeks. I’m not in the market for a Honda, or else I’d be all over ‘em.

The CRV-V LX 2WD has lower lease rates at $268 for 48 months @ 2.9% APR.

All 2010 Insight Hybrids are offered with 3.9% financing, starting at $25,430.

Purchase Financing on 2010 Fits (starting at $15,910) as low as 1.9%

2010 Civic Models have 0.9% purchase financing for 5 years — not bad. They’re also pimping new lower lease rates. 2010 Honda Accord Models have the same deal going.

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