Honda commits to sporty future

Honda has promised to deliver a raft of new and all-new models over the next few years, led by a new-generation Civic Type R that it says will supersede Renault’s new Megane RS265 as the fastest front-wheel drive car to lap the Nurburgring.

Also on Honda’s near-term agenda – in addition to a redesigned NSX supercar - is an all-new small SUV based on the Jazz, a redesigned fuel cell vehicle and three new hybrid technologies.

Honda’s future model revolution was revealed in an unprecedented wide-ranging speech by company president Takanobu Ito, who said the Japanese brand expects to almost double sales from just over three million last year to six million vehicles by March 2017.

Also on Honda’s product agenda is an all-new compact roadster for Japan, but leading Honda’s new model charge will be a replacement for the discontinued Civic Type R, which will be launched in Europe in 2015 and is almost certain to also be sold in Australia.

Honda confirmed development of a new Civic Type R in addition to its upcoming NSX super-coupe, and suggested it will borrow 1.6-litre turbo-petrol power from the racecar that will enter the World Touring Car Championship later this year.

“Developed specifically for the European market and with the application of technologies developed through Honda’s participation in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the all-new Type R will aim to become the fastest front-wheel-drive vehicle on the Nurburgring race course,” said Honda.

Less exciting but offering far greater sales potential is an all-new city-SUV to compete with increasingly popular compact crossovers like the Nissan Dualis, Subaru XV and Mitsubishi ASX in 2013.

Based on the Jazz, Honda’s all-new small SUV will be positioned below the mid-size CR-V, the latest generation of which goes on sale in Australia later this year. Australia’s version is likely to be built alongside the Jazz in Thailand, while a new plant in Mexico will also produce both models from 2014.

While a new small roadster in the mould of the Honda Beat has also been confirmed for the Japanese market only by 2015, Honda also revealed plans to develop no fewer than three new hybrid systems employing, one, two or three electric motors depending on the vehicle application.

Honda expects its new one-motor hybrid system to set new efficiency benchmarks for hybrid vehicles globally, by offering improved motor output and battery performance, plus a new transmission that it says will extend the zero-emissions electric driving range.

Meantime, the plug-in two-motor system will be used for mid-size vehicles initially in Japan and the US, and the three-motor system will be employed in conjunction with the SH-AWD drivetrain seen in the next NSX and redesigned Legend, which goes on sale in Japan in 2014.

Finally, a next-generation fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) will replace the FCX Clarity – first launched in 2008 – in Europe, Japan and North America by 2015

Ito-san said Honda had recovered from the devastating effects of last year’s Great East Japan Earthquake, flooding in Thailand and soaring Yen and “as of today we are ready to make a counterattack”.

He said that in its 2017 fiscal year (the last year of its three-year mid-term business plan) the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer plans to find more than 39 million customers, including 25 million motorcycles, eight million power products and six million vehicles – up from 23.9 million sales in the 2012 financial year ending in March, including 15 million bikes, 5.8 million engines and 3.1 million automobiles.

In addition to developing a new super sportsbike that borrows from its Casey Stoner’s world championship-winning MotoGP racer and is designed to rekindle the spirit of the 1987 VFR750R (RC30), Honda will enter the 2013 Dakar Rally for the first time in 24 years - with a prototype bike based on the CRF450X.

Honda said it will also release the first in a series of new petrol engines in the redesigned 2013 Accord, and announced a sweeping reform of the company’s vehicle development process, starting with the all-new Jazz (knows as the Fit in Japan), which will be introduced from next year and will spawn new City sedan and all-new compact SUV models over the following two years.

“In the area of automobile business, in order for Honda to quickly address the needs of customers around the world, Honda will implement global operation reform, which will enable Honda to realise the best vehicle specifications with competitive costs,” said Ito-san.

“Three key initiatives which will be taken as a part of this global operation reform are: 1) concurrent development by all six regions, 2) adoption of locally optimised design drawings and 3) improvement of production efficiency.

“As in the case of advanced nations, Honda will respond quickly to various market needs in rapidly growing emerging markets while adapting each model to the industrial infrastructures of each country and region.”

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