New Honda Civic

The all new 2012 Civic advert hits TV screens to coincide with the car arriving at Honda showrooms, with customer test drives available from today, the 1st February.

The TV campaign can also be viewed on Honda’s youtube channel www.youtube.com/hondacivicuk and the advert follows the spark of an idea from conception in the Honda factory, the development of the car, before finally resulting in the new Civic being launched.  

Martin Moll, Head of Marketing, Honda (UK), commented “Our dealers are incredibly excited about taking the launch activity to the next phase and get customers in the car. Everyone here at Honda (UK) is looking forward to receiving customer feedback and we are confident it will be even more successful than its predecessor.”

“We have timed the launch of the TV advert to coincide with the first cars arriving in showrooms to really maximise awareness. The advert is a synopsis of the unknown journey the engineers took to continuously improve the Civic and is brought to life in a dramatic reveal of the new model at the end.” 

The Honda Civic is now in its ninth generation and prices start from just £16,495 for the entry-level 1.4-litre 100PS i-VTEC SE, with trim levels of SE, ES, EX and EX GT available. All models offer comfort, convenience and new technology as standard with Honda contract hire prices on the site now.

Honda Jazz

Honda Contract Hire has just updated their Q1 2012 pricing for their latest business contract hire offers and two contract hire rentals immediately stand out as great value for money.

1. Honda Jazz 1.2i-VTEC S 5-door VSA hatchback  contract hire from only £126.54+VAT per month
2. Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid 5-door CVT contract hire from only £158.48+VAT per month

The Honda Jazz is a great city car and at this rental should be on everyone’s budget, if it’s a car for driving around town on your shopping list. If it’s hybrid motoring then the Honda IMA SE offers you the answer at an affordable rental.

Honda Insight contract hire

Both contract hire offers are based on a two year contract term, six rentals in advance, 10,000 miles per annum and non-maintained contract hire. Other terms are available direct from our car finance partner so fill out a Contact Form today. Metallic paint will incur an additional monthly charge.

Honda has announced that normal car production will resume due to an improvement in the supply problems in Thailand, with full car production at Swindon re-commencing on Monday the 19th December 2011. This will also see the start of mass production of Honda’s new Civic.

The severe flooding in Thailand had affected the supply of parts however with the situation improving, Honda is getting back to normal. Andy Platek, Director of Manufacturing at Honda in Swindon, said,”Our Associates have shown great understanding over the last month and we are all now really excited about the prospect of starting to produce our new Civic”. If you are interested in the new Civic as your next company car then we have Honda contract hire prices on the site now.

2012 Honda Civic

The new 2012 Honda Civic will be on show for one night only at an exclusive preview at each of the Honda dealerships nationwide. The preview show started on the 10th November and will run until the 15th December with places strictly limited. There are three evening sessions at each nightly show (5-6pm, 6-7pm and 7-8pm) and this will the first and only time you can see the new Civic before its official launch in early 2012.

If you do attend, the format is a quick journey back through the ages charting the history of the Civic (with music, news, and sweets and treats from a bygone age) followed by the presentation on the new Civic by a Honda product expert.  The walk-round presentation should enable you to get close up to the new Civic and guests will also be able to enter into a national competition, “Journey of their Dreams” (with a bespoke holiday planned for you as the prize).

You can either contact your local Honda dealer to find out their planned date or visit the Honda website.

New Cars of the World

A new monthly guide, called New Cars of the World, has just been launched by Worldcarinfo.com (The World of Cars) and this new monthly format presents the latest new cars introduced from around the world.

The first edition covers September-October 2011 and features the new BMW 3-Series, Isuzu D-Max, Hyundai, i30, Mia Electric, Honda Civic, Peugeot 308 Sedan, Volkswagen up! and many more new car models.

It covers all the key motoring markets of Europe, USA, China, South America, India and Russia and is easy to use with clear and concise descriptions, with many pictures and illustrations. The guide collates its data from the hundreds of auto websites from around the world and the PDF format can be e-mailed to your e-mail inbox on the 5th of every month (subscription fee applies).

The November 2011 Edition will be out on the 5th of December and will feature all the new cars launched at the Los Angeles, Guangzhou and Tokyo Motor Shows and if you want to get the first copy FREE then visit their website @

www.worldcarinfo.com

Small Sports EV Concept

Honda is planning to unveil three new car concepts, three motorcyle concepts and one power product concept at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show, which takes place at Tokyo Big Sight between the 3rd and the 11th December 2011.

The three car concepts are as follows;

1. Small Sports EV Concept -  next-generation EV sports model.
2. AC-X - next-generation plug-in hybrid offering comfortable urban and long distance motoring.
3. Micro Commuter Concept - A micro-sized electric city car, featuring a HONDA MOTOR COMPO (two-wheel EV) slotted inside the vehicle.

In addition Honda will also show off the “N Concept”, a new mini type of vehicle plus the latest production models of the Accord, Insight, Jazz and CR-Z.

BMW 3 Series

The UK’s largest vehicle reliability survey has been conducted by Fleet News with the top FN50 vehicle leasing companies (by fleet size), who run in excess of 1.2 million cars and vans. This annual analysis asks the leasing companies to rank the best vehicles and manufacturers for reliability, with tables then created for a top 10 for cars and a top 5 for vans (see below).

German brands have dominated the results this year for both the car and van category, with the BMW 3 Series the most reliable car (and top car brand), the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter knocking the Ford Transit off the top spot for most reliable van, with Volkswagen leaping ahead of Ford overall, in the van reliability league table.

Fleet News Editor, Stephen Briers, said, “BMW has built on its position as most reliable car manufacturer supplying the UK’s largest contract hire companies, adding another attribute to low CO2 emissions, modest overall running costs and rewarding driver behaviour and making its cars more desirable to fleet operators”.

Volkswagen vans

On vans, Stephen said,”Van reliability is arguably more important than car reliability as vital supply chains can be disrupted through unnecessary vehicle downtime. Volkswagen has demonstrated with its leading position as a van manufacturer, and high placing for its models, that fleet operators can choose its vehicles in confidence”

Most reliable cars according to top FN50 leasing companies

1. BMW 3 Series
2. Honda Accord
3. Volkswagen Golf
4. Audi A3
5. Toyota Avensis
6. Nissan Qashqai
7. Volkswagen Passat
8. Audi A4
9. Mazda6
10. BMW 5 Series

Most reliable car manufacturers

1. BMW
2. Audi
3. Honda
4. Volkswagen
5. Toyota
6. Nissan
7. Mercedes-Benz
8. Ford
9. Lexus
10. Skoda

Most reliable vans

1. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
2. Ford Transit
3. Volkswagen Caddy
4. Ford Transit Connect
5. Volkswagen Transporter

Most reliable van manufacturers

1. Volkswagen
2. Ford
3. Mercedes-Benz
4. Fiat
5. Renault 

Warranty Direct’s unique reliability index takes into account how often vehicles break down, their average repair cost and time spent in the garage, to calculate the overall reliability of any vehicle. The lower the Reliability Index number, the more reliable and cheaper it will be to repair your car.

If you are thinking of buying or leasing a new 4×4 or SUV, the top-10 models are dominated by Japanese and Korean cars. The Warranty Direct study looked at over 16,000 three-to eight-year old 4x4s and SUVs. It is important to choose the right manufacturer and model as Warranty Direct revealed that this vehicle category is also the most expensive type of vehicle to run.

While some of the models below have been replaced by newer vehicles, it does give you an idea of which manufacturer offers you the best reliability and running costs, especially if you lease and opt for a non-maintained contract. Honda scores particularly well in the study with a Reliability Index score of 6.

Further details of the Reliability Index can be found at www.reliabilityindex.co.uk

Top Ten rated 4×4/SUVs 

Lightning GT

The British designed and built Lightning GT supercar has been entered into the 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge which is on the 5th November. The 60-mile route is from Madeira Drive in Brighton to London’ Regent Street with the challenge for each entrant to use as little energy as possible.

The Lightning GT has two electric motors providing 300kW (about 400hp) to the rear wheels and has a 0-60mph time of just 5 seconds, with a top speed of 125mph. The range of the car is over 150 miles and with the addition of the range extender pack this increases to 225 miles. Charging takes as little as 10 minutes with an”ultrafast” off-board charger, 2.5 hours with the on-board charger and 15 hours from a domestic charger (using an adaptor).

There are around 80 low-energy pioneering cars competing in the RAC event from hybrid, hydrogen and low emission combustion engine cars and commercial vehicles, with manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota , Nissan, Vauxhall, Skoda and Volkswagen all participating.

If you are interested in leasing a low emission, fuel efficient car, then try the Vehicle Type Leasing Shopper where you can select the bodystyle, CO2 emissions target and combined mpg you require.

Mini E

BMW and Mini will both participate in the forthcoming 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge which will take place on Saturday the 5th November, the day before the RAC’s famous London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. The RAC Future Car Challenge starts at Madeira Drive in Brighton and the challenge is to drive to London using the least energy possible, within the 2hrs 45 minimum and 3hrs 30min maximum time permitted.

A BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics saloon car will be joined by two all-electric, emission free concept vehicles, the BMW ActiveE and Mini E. The BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics is the greenest production car that BMW has ever built and is capable of CO2 emissions of 110g/km and a remarkable 68.9 combined mpg. This car is no slouch however and still manages a 0-62mph time of eight seconds and on to a top speed of 142mph. 

The Mini E has already been proving its capabilities with a six months trial with 40 volunteers and this all-electric car has a 150kW (200bhp) electric motor powering the front wheels and offers a range of around 156 miles. The Mini E is just one phase in the BMW Project i scheme, that will see the launch of a mass-produced electric vehicle, the BMW i3 in 2013.

The BMW ActiveE will also undertake a series of six-month trials with over 1,000 volunteers worldwide and is another evolution in BMW’s Project i scheme. The ActiveE has a 168hp electric synchronous motor which propels the car from 0-60mph in in nine seconds and on to a limited top speed of 90mph. Recharging can be performed via a 13A or 32A power supply and takes around eight or five hours respectively. The car also has regenerative braking which helps extend the range to 100 miles between charges.

In addition to these BMW and Mini models, other car manufacturers will be bringing a range of their hybrid, hydrogen and low-emission internal combustion cars and light-commercial vans to the event. Last year car manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Vauxhall, Skoda and Volkswagen attended. This year the total number of entries has been increased to 90, with a range of awards in up to 22 different categories, as well as by their power source.