Honda Moves Up Civic Update

Honda is accelerating its plans to update the Civic, Automotive News is reporting. Although it's selling pretty well, Honda's redesigned-for-2012 Civic has been panned by critics, tarnishing the brand image of this perennial compact-class benchmark.

Earlier reports suggested that Honda was planning a midcycle refresh sometime in 2013, but Honda officials at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Las Vegas announced that an updated Civic will come out this fall, just 18 months after the new one debuted.

With the 2012 redesign, the Civic got fresh styling, a new specific high-fuel-economy model and, many argue, a cheaper interior and overall feel. It sounds like Honda's update to the Civic will address those faults. Details haven't been released, but Honda has said the changes will be "significant."

Honda Pulls Forward Major Changes to Civic to This Fall (Automotive News)

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: January 2012

After capping 2011 with four decent months, the auto industry hit 2012 running. Analysts expect auto sales to outpace 2011 figures anywhere from 6% to 10%, which could make 2012 the best sales year since 2007.

January enticed consumers with total incentives — including financing offers, automaker and dealer cash, and trade-in bonuses — amounting to 16% off the average car’s MSRP, CNW Marketing Research reports. That beats January 2011, when shoppers saw only 13.5% off the average MSRP.

Shoppers took advantage. January sales jumped 11%, beating Tuesday’s expectations. This marks the best annualized month since 2009, Automotive News reports. Chrysler, Nissan and Hyundai-Kia saw double-digit sales gains, with GM the only top-seven automaker to post a loss.

Honda Sued Over Fuel-Economy Claims

The automaker known for its high-mileage vehicles is being sued for not delivering advertised fuel-economy figures. Honda is being taken to California small-claims court by an owner of a 2006 Civic Hybrid, according to USA Today.

Former corporate attorney Heather Peters is circumventing an ongoing class-action suit against Honda that alleges similar claims. The pending lawsuit involves owners of 2002-09 Civic Hybrids and could net each one $100 to $200. Peters’ individual lawsuit, however, could pay her as much as $10,000.

In the lawsuit, Peters alleges her Civic Hybrid never delivered the fuel-economy figures publicized by Honda. She says it initially got 20% less than the 49/51 mpg city/highway rating advertised on the Civic Hybrid’s window sticker. She also alleges that a deteriorating battery and software update only worsened the car’s performance.

Peters bought the car for $25,400 and is seeking compensation for the premium she paid over the gas version, the extra gas her Civic Hybrid has been using since she bought it and its depreciated resale value. In the lawsuit, she contends that Honda owes her a total of $122,112.

The judge has not yet ruled on the lawsuit.

Honda Goes to Small-Claims Trial Over Gas Mileage Claims (USA Today)

Naughty or Nice: Hotly Anticipated New Models

The process of seeing new cars evolve from sketches to concepts to production cars on sale creates anticipation and excitement over the months and years it takes to release or redesign a car. Driving these cars for the first time can quickly confirm our high hopes, or squash them flat like the chances of getting an unaltered “Han shot first” Blu-ray version of “Star Wars” this holiday season.
 
More Naughty or Nice Picks

Cars.com Podcast: 2010 Honda Civic, 2010 Dodge Charger, 2010 Audi R8 V-10

Want to know all about senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder’s time in the rip-roaring, V-10-powered Audi R8? Well, you’ll have to wait until he and editors Kelsey Mays and David Thomas discuss the highs and lows of the Honda Civic and Dodge Charger, both nearing the end of their life cycles.

You can download the podcast via iTunes here or the MP3 version here.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: June 2010

As we near the dog days of summer, the general malaise of the summer months seems to be taking its toll on car sales earlier than usual.

Many large automakers saw only incremental sales gains in June, with Ford up 13.3%, GM up 10.7%, Toyota up 6.8% and Honda only up 6.2%.

Despite the lull, some automakers managed to outperform. Beleaguered Chrysler saw a 35% sales boost in year-over-year sales; to be fair, the automaker was just exiting bankruptcy this time last year, making any comparisons between the two months extremely misleading. Korean automaker Hyundai also continues its sales gains, up 35%.

Significant changes on June’s top 10 include the Nissan Altima falling off the list and the Honda CR-V making the top 10. It’s the first crossover represented on the top 10 since April.

Find out which cars came out on top below. If you want to follow our breaking sales coverage every month, follow us on Twitter @kickingtires.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars June 2010

• Ford F-Series: 46,502
• Chevrolet Silverado: 30,994
• Toyota Camry: 28,435
• Honda Accord: 26,792 (includes 1,848 Accord Crosstours)
• Honda Civic: 26,474 (includes hybrid)
• Toyota Corolla: 21,876 (includes Matrix)
• Chevrolet Malibu: 20,720
• Ford Fusion: 18,412
• Hyundai Sonata: 17,771
• Honda CR-V: 16,041

Recall Alert: Honda Accord, Civic, Acura TL

Honda is expanding a recall from 2008 to include an additional 440,000 vehicles. The recall is for defective airbag inflation systems that could deploy with too much pressure, causing injury or even fatalities. According to Bloomberg News, the default has led to one death in the U.S.

Included in the recall are model year 2001-02 Honda Accords, 2001 Honda Civics and 2002-03 Acura TLs.

Honda will send out recall notices in the next few months, but concerned owners can visit their recall website at www.owners.honda.com/recalls or www.owners.acura.com/recalls for Acura owners.

Ford Focus, Volvo C30 Are Top Safety Picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been expanding its crash tests to more and more segments. The very influential tests were recently applied to compact coupes, including the Honda Civic, Scion tC, Volco C30, Ford Focus and Chevy Cobalt. The group as a whole performed well considering the severity of the tests. None rated lower than Acceptable in front or side tests, while the Ford Focus and Volvo C30 scored top marks of Good in front, side and rear tests, earning the Top Safety Pick nod.

While the sedan version of the Civic is a Top Safety Pick, the coupe version earned an Acceptable side crash rating. This illustrates the point that safety ratings for one version of a model can’t be applied to others.

The Scion tC faired the worst, earning Acceptable front and side marks and only a Marginal in rear crash tests. You can see the full chart below, including previously tested sedan versions of the Civic, Focus and Cobalt.

Cars.com Podcasts Are Here

After 10 years of penning car reviews, the editors at Cars.com have finally decided to broadcast their unvarnished thoughts through the magic of podcasting. We know we’re not the first automotive publication to record a podcast, but we wanted to do something slightly different than the rest.

Each week, editors Joe Wiesenfelder, David Thomas, Kelsey Mays and Mike Hanley will hold an informal roundtable on cars we’ve recently tested. Ever wondered what all of us think of the cars that get reviewed? This is the podcast for you.

This week, we take on a number of compact cars, like the 2009 Honda Civic and outgoing Mazda3, as well as all-new midsize sedans the Mazda6 and Acura TL, all in under 20 minutes. That should eat up some of your commute and/or workday.

You can download the podcast via iTunes or listen on your browser, here. Non-iTunes folks can subscribe to the RSS feed here.

If you have any suggestions for us, please leave them in the comments or email to editor@cars.com.

Cars.com Videos: 2009 Honda Civic, 2009 Acura TL and More

2009 Honda Civic: Mike Hanley takes a look at the higher-end features — including a navigation system, heated leather seats and a USB port — in this premium compact car.

2009 Pontiac G5: The XFE G5 gets a whopping 37 mpg on the highway, but Kelsey Mays says there are better compact cars on the market.

2009 Acura TL: The radically redesigned TL now comes in a base version and a performance-minded TL SH-AWD one, and both come with the love-it-or-hate-it grille, David Thomas says.

2009 Audi A4 Avant: This completely restyled station wagon puts a premium on interior space, especially when there’s a child-safety seat in the backseat, David says.

2009 Mercedes-Benz M-Class: The ML320 Bluetec is equipped with a clean diesel engine and a new navigation and entertainment system that’s really impressive.

View and share all of Cars.com’s videos via YouTube.