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California said on Monday it will halt all purchases of new vehicles for state government fleets from GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler and other automakers backing President Donald Trump in a battle to strip the state of authority to regulate tailpipe emissions. Between 2016 and 2018, California purchased $58.6 million in vehicles from General Motors Corp, $55.8 million from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles $10.6 million from Toyota Motor Corp and $9 million from Nissan Motor Co. Last month, GM, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and members of the Global Automakers trade association backed the Trump administration's effort to bar California from setting tailpipe...

California announced new rules Friday for its state vehicle fleet to reduce pollution and reward automakers that are siding with it against the Trump administration. Officials immediately barred state agencies from buying any sedans that only run on internal combustion engines, with exemptions for certain public safety vehicles. The state has about 40,000 vehicles, about 8,400 of which are sedans. Starting next year, it will require state agencies to buy only from companies that recognize California’s authority to set greenhouse gas and zero emission vehicle standards. Only BMW, Ford, Volkswagen and Honda have decided to back California and endorse stricter...

Does anyone own a Honda Ridgeline pickup and if so, how satisfied are you with it?

Honda is preparing to announce the closure of its factory in Swindon, dealing a devastating blow both to its 3,500-strong workforce and ministers' hopes that the UK will remain an elite manufacturing economy after Brexit. Sky News has learnt that the Japanese car manufacturer could disclose the plan as soon as Tuesday morning.

Built in China, sold in the U.S.: It's a first for GM and any U.S. automaker. GM said it will sell the Chinese-built Buick Envision, a crossover SUV, in the U.S. market starting next year. The UAW attacked the plan, saying it was "a slap in the face." It said GM should reconsider its plans and instead build a version for the U.S. market at a U.S. plant. "The men and women of GM and the American taxpayers who invested so much in GM's future deserve better," said the union. GM agreed in its latest labor deal to invest $8.3...

Honda, the worldwide maker of cars and motorcycles and lawn mowers, is doubling down on aircraft manufacturing. The Honda Aircraft Company unveiled a new jet, the HondaJet Elite, on Sunday May 27 at this year's European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland. The original HondaJet achieved FAA certification in late 2015 and deliveries began shortly thereafter. The new business jet, which will be on display at EBACE until May 31, sports an extended range up to 1,437 nautical miles (a 17 percent increase over the original HondaJet), which Honda says makes it "the furthest-flying aircraft in its...

Ford's plan to reduce its passenger car lineup to just two models, and GM's difficulty selling passenger cars in the U.S. show how much tastes are drifting toward trucks, SUVs and crossovers. Ford will only update the Focus Active crossover and Mustang for the U.S. market, while GM called out a challenging passenger car environment. ====================================================================================================== So is it really the end of the American car on its home turf? From the way Detroit's major executives are talking, it would seem so. Ford said Wednesday it will only offer two new cars in North America over the coming years —...

Honda brings Clarity to the plug-in hybrid market By Jim BrayTechnoFile.com It's loud. It's whiny. Its interfaces are incoherent. But it'll help you save the world, and you might be able to make other people help you pay for it!It's Honda's new Clarity, in this case a plug-in hybrid model. Honda calls it the newest member of their "completely redesigned lineup," even though it sports exactly the same dashboard abomination – as in no knobs for tuning the stereo or tuning the volume up or down - that the company is finally moving away from with its new Accord and...

TOKYO -- Honda Motor delivered 43 of its business jets, the HondaJet, to customers in 2017, up 20 from a year before, becoming the top-selling model for the first time by beating out U.S. rival Cessna Aircraft. Cessna delivered 39 of its mainstay Citation M2 jets during the year. Honda said its aircraft business improved mainly due to the strong North American market and Europe. It said about half of the aircraft it delivered went to individuals, and half to corporate clients. The HondaJet is priced at $4.9 million. That would put annual sales at about $210.7 million, based on...

Toyota HighlanderToyota TundraToyota SiennaToyota PriusToyota RAV4Honda OdysseyToyota SequoiaToyota TacomaHonda CR-VToyota AvalonAcura MDXToyota CamrySubaru ForesterNissan FrontierVolkswagen Golf

New Honda Accord a major step backwards - and that's a good thing!By Jim BrayTechnoFile.comIt may not be back completely but, as evidenced by the newly redesigned 2018 Honda Accord, it looks as if the honoured Japanese carmaker is back on track. Or at least well on the way.I've been particularly vociferous about my Honda angst in recent years. The company makes terrific cars - and they still do, for the most part - but somewhere along the way between adding all the new drivers' aids and pursuing ever more strict fuel economy mandates the company seemed to lose its...

A Japanese auto parts supplier is one step closer to creating 85 new jobs and taking over a Springfield industrial park after receiving tax credits valued at about $300,000 on Monday. Members of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority voted unanimously Monday to approve a 1.217-percent, seven-year tax credit for the Topre America Corp., which has pledged to take over Springfield’s Champion City Business Park. Topre plans to invest $55 million and create at least 85 jobs, with the expectation more workers could be added over the next several years. The 85 jobs the company has pledged to bring to Springfield...

Honda's latest motorcycle technology, Honda Riding Assists, helps to prevent the bike from falling over at low speeds. A drive by wire system operates the front steering fork, which also extends out at low speeds to alter the bike's trail length. By electronically turning the front wheel left or right, the bike maintains its upright balance.

Alright, you Freeper Motorcycle Hooligans: Marty is tentatively in the market for a new bike. Current contenders are the Honda Gold Wing F6B vs the Indian Chieftain I’d like to hear anyone’s experiences with either of the above 2 bikes — or with any other large dual-bag cruiser Here’s what I”m thinking: HONDA F6b: PLUSSES: 1800cc 6-cylinder boxer engine, liquid-cooled, known for great balance of torque vs high-end and for longevity Shaft drive Slightly lower asking price than the Chieftain Modern electronic features Great Honda fit & finish, engineering MINUSES: Does not have old-school look nor much chrome INDIAN CHIEFTAIN:...

Within walking distance of Tesla Motors' Palo Alto headquarters and across the street from Hewlett-Packard, Ford Motor Co. has set up a new Silicon Valley outpost. With a team of 100 reporting to a former Apple engineer, the Detroit giant is researching how humans experience machines, running autonomous-vehicle driving simulations and testing software that examines how bicycles and cars interact. "For 100 years, automobiles have been a mechanical engineering industry," said the center's director, Dragos Maciuca, who on his morning commute drives past a nearby research center of German automotive electronics and parts supplier Bosch. "Now, there is the shift...

Slow sales and falling gasoline prices have prompted Honda to stop selling gas-electric hybrid and natural gas-powered versions of its Civic compact car. The company also said that it will discontinue a plug-in rechargeable version of the midsize Accord. But it plans to roll out a new, more efficient version of the Accord hybrid early next year. And a new plug-in Accord will come later. Executive Vice President John Mendel said Monday in a statement that production of the natural gas Civic already has been halted, and hybrid Civic production will end after the 2015 model year.

Taking a page out of Volvo’s playbook, Honda has set a handful of lofty goals for the next 35 years – including eliminating the possibility of its cars crashing. Speaking to Car and Driver last week at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress, Honda Americas R&D president Frank Paluch dished detains on a new set of core goals the Japanese automaker hopes to achieve by 2040, but they won’t be happening all at once. The first step in Honda’s goal will come in 2020, where Paluch says Honda vehicles will be connected one another and to infrastructure, lending to...

HOUSTON (AP) — Federal safety regulators are looking into the death of a Texas man who may be the latest victim of exploding automobile air bags made by Takata Corp. of Japan. The man, identified by authorities as Carlos Solis, 35, died in a low-speed crash in the Houston area when an air bag inflated and sent shrapnel into his neck, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Thursday on the Senate floor.

I'm not one for boycotts, but I am one for data. And I like this kind of data. It's just good to have data when spending money. That's all. I mean, if I have no choice in keeping a SIGNIFICANTLY large portion of my money from being squandered by the folks that I've freaking employed up on the Hill (like drunk girls on Spring break with their Daddy's credit cards), I'm going to be as informed as possible with what's left of said money. Thus, the data thing. You know. According to the source article above and the New York...

Rep. Mike Honda, (D-CA), has submitted a bill to the U.S. House that would prohibit the sale, use or possession of what he terms military-grade body armor. Honda reasons that this measure would aid law enforcement in taking out an active shooter, since the active shooter wouldn’t be able to obtain body armor. “There is no reason this type of armor, which is designed for warfare, should be available in our communities except for those who need it, like law enforcement,” Honda said in a statement last week. “There’s nothing more dangerous than what a well-armored, unstoppable active shooter can...