Filed under: Honda Last month we learned that Honda had canceled plans to build a new V10-powered replacement replacement for its departed NSX sports car. Now, AutoCar is reporting that several other vehicle programs at Honda have fallen victim to the new economic and environmental reality. In addition to the NSX, Acura was due to get a new rear wheel drive platform and V8 engine for its sedans so they could better compete with products from BMW and Mercedes as well as Infiniti and Lexus. The new architecture and engine are now on ice. Over on the Honda brand side of the house, two future sporty car programs have also been killed. A replacement for the S2000 roadster will apparently never see the light of day and a convertible version of upcoming CR-Z has also been shelved. The CR-Z hybrid coupe will debut in 2010 based on the new Insight. Gallery: CR-Z hybrid concept [Source: AutoCar ] Honda S2000, CR-Z convertible follow Acura NSX and V8 to scrap heap originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hybrid , Hydrogen , Honda , Toyota , Green Daily Click above for more shots of the Honda FCX Clarity We’ve already taken a look at the 2,555 hybrids that GM sold in December and the 14,439 hybrid vehicles it sold in 2008, but what about the other major automakers? Not every automaker reports their sales the same way (most don’t break out hybrid numbers, for example), but we can still compare GM’s results to Honda’s and Toyota’s. Toyota reports that, for all of 2008, it sold 15,200 Lexus RX 400h luxury hybrid SUVs and 19,391 Highlander Hybrid gas-electric mid-size SUVs. For the year, Toyota and Lexus sold 241,405 hybrid vehicles. That includes 158,884 Priuses, compared to 181,221 in 2007. That 12.6 percent drop in hybrid sales is better than the drop in overall sales in the industry. There is something interesting going on with the Honda numbers . The sales numbers say that 1,036 Civic hybrids were sold in December (31,297 in all of 2008) compared to 3,223 in December 2007 (32,575 in all of 2007). That was expected. The discontinued Accord hybrid managed to sell 198 units in 2008 (vs. 3,405 in 2007). The interesting part comes in the FCX Clarity section. Apparently, Honda sold five of them in 2008. I thought the only way to get an FCX Clarity was to lease one . Gallery: 2009 Honda FCX Clarity First drive [Source: Toyota , Honda ] Toyota, Honda hybrid sales drop in 2008; 5 FCX Clarity models sold originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hybrid , GM , HUMMER , Green Daily All things considered, it appears that we think of GM’s 2,555 hybrid sales in December a success. GM’s press release (posted after the jump) certainly makes it all smell like roses. The 2.5k deliveries are up from the 1,957 hybrids the General sold in September . At that time, GM was averaging about 1,000 hybrids a month for 2008, and the trend has been upward since then, and for all of 2008, GM sold 14,439 hybrid vehicles. Here’s how December’s hybrid sales broke down: 981 Chevrolet Tahoe 442 GMC Yukon 306 Cadillac Escalade 454 Chevrolet Malibu 34 Saturn Aura 338 Vue For those of you keeping score against the HUMMER brand, sales in 2008 were down 50.9 percent compared to 2007. The General sold 55,986 H1, H2, and H3 models in 2007 and 27,485 in 2008 (including just 692 units of the new H3T model). Gallery: 2008 GMC Yukon hybrid [Source: GM ] Continue reading GM sold 2,555 hybrids in December, HUMMER sales cut in half GM sold 2,555 hybrids in December, HUMMER sales cut in half originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Chevrolet , Green Daily The Chevy Volt is very likely the car we’ve written about the most here on AutoblogGreen (with the Tesla Roadster up there as well). Turns out, in what might still be the Volt’s engine’s future hometown - Flint, Michigan - the local love isn’t quite with GM’s halo car. According to a year-end ranking of the Flint Journal’s top stories , the Volt engine deal and subsequent delay and then possible revival came in at number five. The Volt news was beaten to the number four spot by a story on a University of Michigan-Flint residence hall . Other things that Flint residents clicked on more than the Volt story were Obama’s victory, GM’s overall troubles and development in downtown Flint. Guess not everyone is watching the Volt’s progress as closely as we are. [Source: Flint Journal ] University dorm story more important in Flint than hometown Chevy Volt story originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hybrid , Lexus , Detroit Auto Show , Green Daily click to enlarge speculative rendering The relationship between Lexus and its hybrid-only line has been speculated about for some time . The high-end Toyota brand has now confirmed that the HS250h, the first dedicated hybrid Lexus model, will be shown at the Detroit Auto Show in concept form. We’ve seen a rendering (above) of what this vehicle might look like, but we’ll most likely have to wait until the Lexus press conference to see the real deal. The Lexus website is nothing but a tease at this point. As for when the HS250h might hit sales floors, Paul Tan says it’ll be in North American showrooms in about a year. The car should have a 2.4 liter four-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine and probably the same hybrid setup as the Toyota Camry hybrid. Car and Driver estimates the HS250h will get somewhere around 40 mpg. [Source: Car and Driver , Paul Tan ] Detroit Preview: new Lexus dedicated hybrid, the HS250h originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments