Honda Motor Co

With few exceptions in modern motorbiking, the two-wheeled world has broken down something like this: Manual transmission equals motorcycle (and macho). Automatic transmission equals scooter (and sissy). But in the last year, the most caveman of two-wheeled categorizations has begun to evolve: Motorcycles are beginning to incorporate automatic transmissions. The Honda DN-01, which is rolling into U.S.

In the state that gave birth to powered flight, engineers for Honda Motor Co. have been quietly developing a small jet airplane that could alter the general aviation landscape. Operating out of a small airstrip in Greensboro, N.C., Japan's second-largest auto manufacturer has begun test flying the HondaJet. It's a prototype of a six-passenger jet that marks a major leap forward in Honda's decades-long ambition to build a highly efficient, low-cost aircraft.

Matthew Veno spotted an opening in the early-morning rush-hour traffic and stabbed the accelerator. His year-old Acura TL Type-S surged forward, hitting close to 80 mph on Boston's Route 3. Then, with no warning, the five-speed automatic transmission slipped from fifth to second, pulling the car up as sharply as if he had slammed on the brakes. "Fortunately, the people behind me were able to swerve, so there wasn't an accident," the 23-year-old computer engineer recalled.

Honda's Prius-killer is looking a lot like road kill. When it debuted in March, Honda Motor Corp.'s retooled Insight hybrid looked to be the first serious challenger to the Prius, Toyota Motor Corp.'s ecological wunder-car. Graced with a low price, 40-mpg-plus fuel economy and the Japanese automaker's reputation for quality, the Insight even looked like the Prius.

The Los Angeles Marathon, preparing for its new Stadium to the Sea course and a sellout field of 25,000 entrants, announced Tuesday that it had landed a three-year title sponsorship deal with Honda. Marathon and Honda officials declined to reveal financial terms. The auto giant negotiated a multifaceted deal "for millions of dollars," according to marathon President Russ Pillar, to create the Honda Los Angeles Marathon -- the first title sponsor in the marathon's 25-year history -- and boost the event's ambition to stamp itself "as a destination race for international participants," Pillar said.

Asian vehicles once again dominated Consumer Reports' annual ranking of new cars and light trucks, and Honda Motor Co. was named top automaker for the third year in a row. The company rankings are based on the performance and reliability of the vehicles, as determined by the magazine's staff in testing and customer surveys. Among individual vehicle categories, Toyota Motor Corp.'s namesake brand led the pack with top picks in four categories -- mid-size SUV, small SUV, minivan and green car.

Honda Motor Co., the third-largest Japanese automaker, has decided not to build an eight-cylinder engine because high fuel prices are pushing buyers to more efficient motors. The company will focus instead on expanding diesel and gasoline-electric engine output. "It's not the time to make a V-8," Honda Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in Germany. "We need to focus on diesels and hybrids first."

What's it worth to be No. 1? To Ford Motor Co., whose Taurus sedan has a chance this year to unseat the Honda Accord as the top-selling car in the United States, a lot. As much as $2,600 a car, by some estimates. Ford declines to put a dollar value on the car crown--which the Accord has worn for the last three years--much less divulge how much it's spending to try to steal it. "Let's just say it's important to us," says Ford's Los Angeles regional sales manager, Rick Baker.

Honda Motor Co. exported its first Acura models from the United States to China as part of an expansion of its U.S.-based luxury brand to Asia.

Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. finance arm and three major U.S. banks have agreed to settle class-action lawsuits filed by black customers who accused them of racial bias in automobile lending practices. The suits alleged that the companies' policies allowed car dealers to charge thousands of black customers more interest on auto loans than was charged to whites with similar financial histories. The interest was in the form of a dealer-added "markup" to the basic interest rate.

The Los Angeles Marathon, preparing for its new Stadium to the Sea course and a sellout field of 25,000 entrants, announced Tuesday that it had landed a three-year title sponsorship deal with Honda. Marathon and Honda officials declined to reveal financial terms. The auto giant negotiated a multifaceted deal "for millions of dollars," according to marathon President Russ Pillar, to create the Honda Los Angeles Marathon -- the first title sponsor in the marathon's 25-year history -- and boost the event's ambition to stamp itself "as a destination race for international participants," Pillar said.

Honda's Prius-killer is looking a lot like road kill. When it debuted in March, Honda Motor Corp.'s retooled Insight hybrid looked to be the first serious challenger to the Prius, Toyota Motor Corp.'s ecological wunder-car. Graced with a low price, 40-mpg-plus fuel economy and the Japanese automaker's reputation for quality, the Insight even looked like the Prius.

Toyota Motor Corp. has cut the base price of its Prius hybrid by $1,000 to help beat back competition from Honda Motor Co.'s gasoline-electric Insight. Honda started selling the new Insight on March 24 with a sticker price starting at $19,800, less than the $22,000 for the current base-model Prius. Toyota will offer a 2010 Prius for $21,000 later this year.

Honda Motor Co. is offering voluntary buyouts, cutting workers' pay and imposing 13 non-production days at its North American plants to reduce its inventory this summer by 62,000 vehicles. Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke said Tuesday that the buyouts would be offered to most of the Japanese automaker's 35,600 employees in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Enhanced retirement packages are also being offered, he said.

With few exceptions in modern motorbiking, the two-wheeled world has broken down something like this: Manual transmission equals motorcycle (and macho). Automatic transmission equals scooter (and sissy). But in the last year, the most caveman of two-wheeled categorizations has begun to evolve: Motorcycles are beginning to incorporate automatic transmissions. The Honda DN-01, which is rolling into U.S.

Honda Motor Co.'s much-anticipated Prius fighter may double as a recession fighter. The Japanese automaker said Tuesday that when the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid hits dealer lots in two weeks, it will carry a base price of $19,800. That put an end to months of speculation over just how much less expensive the new Honda would be than the Toyota Prius, currently the top-selling hybrid in the U.S.

Asian vehicles once again dominated Consumer Reports' annual ranking of new cars and light trucks, and Honda Motor Co. was named top automaker for the third year in a row. The company rankings are based on the performance and reliability of the vehicles, as determined by the magazine's staff in testing and customer surveys. Among individual vehicle categories, Toyota Motor Corp.'s namesake brand led the pack with top picks in four categories -- mid-size SUV, small SUV, minivan and green car.

Honda Motor Co. said Monday that managers' salaries would be slashed 5% starting next month to cope with sliding sales. The cut comes on top of the 10% pay reduction for directors announced last month. The move affects about 4,800 managers at Honda group companies in Japan, but not those hired by Honda's overseas units, the company said. The reduction continues through May, and what happens after that is still undecided, it said. Japan's No.

Ken Gibson can tell you that it's a little eerie to hear the "William Tell" overture float through your bedroom window at 2 in the morning. He first thought the noise was a neighbor playing a xylophone. His neighbor was convinced it was a ghost. Across West Avenue K in Lancaster, where the flat brown desert rises up into purple mountains, two others thought the noise was the high school marching band. They all soon learned that the tune was coming from a musical road installed by Honda Motor Co.

New York The streets of this city and the roadways leading into it were vehicular combat zones. Big trucks ruled the highways. But their size turned against them in tight urban quarters, where motorized guerrilla warfare raged and speed and agility were needed to do battle with yellow cabs. We were prepared.