Word: honda
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...trade-off for performance and luxury used to be lousy gas mileage, and it still is for most cars. But eco-luxury has become the hottest trend in the auto industry, and the latest hybrids from both Honda and Toyota's LEXUS division are all about going green in pulse-racing style. Honda's new hybrid Accord, which went on the market in December, packs 255 h.p.--15 h.p. more than the conventional V6--and comes with luxuries like a leather-trimmed interior, heated front seats, power windows--and even an electronic noise-dampening system. Not to be outdriven, Lexus...
...also worth noting that few of the Asian firms that have succeeded overseas bought their way there. Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda enjoyed years of protected markets at home, then set up operations abroad that introduced new production techniques or superior engineering. In Korea, Samsung and Hyundai took decades to build respected brands. By contrast, electronics maker LG failed to establish a thriving business from its shortcut purchase of the TV brand Zenith?though it has recently been much more successful in penetrating global markets by pushing its own brand. Chinese acquirers will face similar challenges...
...redesigned 2005 Honda Odyssey can seat eight, has 17 cup holders and gets about 20 m.p.g. in the city. (If all those cup holders are being used, forget the gas mileage, since you will be pulling over every 10 minutes.) The family-friendly conveniences continue with remote-entry side doors, a lazy Susan in the second row and third-row seats that stow effortlessly. The $34,000 touring model (prices start at $25,000) includes an automatic lift gate and a rearview camera. Honda has upped the safety margin too, with side air bags, curtain air bags and a frame...
That is the quandary facing the U.S. auto industry, particularly General Motors as it wrestles with how much to invest in hybrid gas-electric cars. Over the past year, as gas has hovered around $2 a gallon, hybrids made by Toyota and Honda have gained a small but growing following in the U.S. Though hybrids account for less than 1% of the estimated 17 million new cars to be sold this year, they could make up 3% of the market by the end of the decade and potentially as much as 20%, according to a study by consulting firm Booz...
...Japanese firms, especially Toyota and Honda, have taken the lead in advanced automobile technology. The Japanese car industry, Lovins said to me last week, has "uninhibited visionary leaders in a country which has no oil and is acutely aware of its oil dependence." If the U.S. automobile industry waits for years to see if lightweight fuel-efficient cars are more than a niche business, Lovins argues, it will one day discover that it has lost another market to overseas firms. There is a need too for political leadership. Lovins insists the study's recommendations require "no major federal legislation...