All-New Honda Ridgeline Pickup to Debut Within Two Years

An all-new Honda Ridgeline pickup truck will come to market in less than two years and, today, Honda shared a sketch expressing the new truck's styling direction. Honda also confirmed that production of the current Ridgeline, built exclusively by Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, LLC, in Lincoln, Alabama, will conclude in mid-2014.

Like the innovative first-generation model that earned 2006 North American Truck of the Year and Motor Trend Truck of the Year honors after its fall 2005 debut, the next-gen Ridgeline is being designed and developed by Honda R&D Americas, Inc. at its Los Angeles and Ohio R&D centers.

The Honda Ridgeline broke new ground in the American pickup market with its unique design featuring a spacious five-passenger cabin, smooth ride and handling, and half-ton truck capability. The first truck of its kind to be built on a closed-box unibody platform, the Ridgeline introduced innovative new features to the pickup segment, such as its large In-Bed Trunk® and dual-action tailgate.

"The next generation Ridgeline will build on Honda's role in creating new value with a new take on advancing form and function in the truck segment," said Michael Accavitti, senior vice president of automobile operations for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "With a clear path forward, Ridgeline will play an even more important role in our future product portfolio and strengthen an already class-leading lineup of light trucks."

Sales of Ridgeline have enjoyed strong momentum in 2013, strengthened recently by the introduction of a new top-of-the-line Special Edition model for 2014, with sales totaling 16,160 units through the first 11 months of the year, an increase of 29 percent.

Check out the current Ridgeline at Executive Honda and be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for further news and updates.

Honda Joins Vehicle-to-Grid Technology Demonstration Project in Partnership with University of Delaware and NRG Energy

Honda has joined a demonstration project for experimental vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology aimed at providing a potentially valuable energy storage resource to the nation's electrical grid while providing for more cost-effective ownership of plug-in electric vehicles. 

The Honda technology builds off of the research conducted by the University of Delaware and now supported by NRG Energy, Inc.  NRG and the University of Delaware, through their eV2g joint venture, came online early in 2013 with the world's first revenue-generating vehicle-to-grid project, demonstrating the controls, regulatory requirements, and market participation rules for selling energy storage from vehicles into the PJM Interconnection Regulation Market. Honda is supplying an Accord Plug-In Hybrid with added V2G capabilities to the University's Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus to jointly investigate the potential of this technology to benefit the electrical grid, vehicle owners and society.

Using smart grid technology, the V2G system is able to monitor the status of the grid to determine whether the grid requires additional power sources that can respond rapidly, or the grid requires power demands that can absorb transitional power supply. Such a system has the potential to reduce or eliminate the fluctuation of the grid, which can occur more frequently when renewable energy sources are introduced to the grid. Electric vehicle owners potentially benefit from supporting a more stable power grid, which can lead to reduced utility costs for the vehicle owner. 

The Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid demonstration vehicle is equipped with a bi-directional on-board charger, which allows the vehicle propulsion battery to both charge from and discharge to the electrical grid.  With an additional communication device, the vehicle receives signals from a grid operator via a charging station, and controls charge and discharge in accordance with the signals.  When electric power is requested by the grid, the vehicle will discharge power from its battery.  When the grid power supply exceeds demand, the vehicle proactively charges its battery.

Build a Plug-In Hybrid Accord at Executive Honda and be sure to stay up to date on our Facebook and Twitter for more news and updates.

Honda Accord Named "2014 Green Car of the Year" by Green Car Journal

The 2014 Honda Accord, America's top-selling car with retail car customers, has been named the "2014 Green Car of the Year®" by Green Car Journal.  The award recognizes the class-leading environmental performance of the Accord family of vehicles, including the fuel-efficient and low emissions Accord 4-cylinder and V-6 Coupe and Sedan, the EPA-rated 50 mpg city Accord Hybrid and the EPA-rated 115 MPGe combined Accord Plug-in Hybrid. 

"Led by the 2014 Accord Hybrid, the entire Accord lineup really embodies the promise of the Honda brand to deliver both fun-to-drive enjoyment and outstanding fuel efficiency at the highest level," said Mike Accavitti, senior vice president of Automobile Operations at American Honda. "I want to say thank you to Green Car Journal, not just for honoring Accord, but for shining a spotlight on the environment and our shared vision for an ultra-low carbon future."

2014 Green Car of the Year® jurorsselected the Accord as the winning model for many reasons, not the least of which is its ability to offer an efficient choice for a wide range of buyers, from those seeking better fuel efficiency in a conventionally powered model to those desiring the milestone efficiency of a world-class hybrid or plug-in hybrid. In addition to the "Green Car of the Year" honor, the Accord was earlier honored as one of Green Car Journal's 'Top 5 Green Cars for 2014' and additionally earned the magazine's 'Green Car Product of Excellence' distinction. 

"With its efficient internal combustion, hybrid, and plug-in choices, the 2014 Honda Accord delivers exactly what consumers are looking for today," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com. "It all comes together this year for the Accord in ways that speak to significant environmental performance built into a mainstream, volume model that's a joy to drive. The Accord is a deserving winner of Green Car Journal's 2014 Green Car of the Year."

The 2014 Accord is the second Honda brand vehicle named as "Green Car of the Year" in the past three years, joining the 2012 Civic Natural Gas, which netted the distinction in 2011.

2014 Honda Accord
The 2014 Accord lineup features Honda's innovative Earth Dreams™ Technology powertrains, including Honda's next-generation 2.4-liter, direct-injected 4-cylinder engine with continuously variable transmission or 6-speed manual transmission. The Accord Plug-In, with an 115 MPGe combined EPA fuel-economy rating, and the Accord Hybrid Sedan, with a class-leading 50 mpg EPA city fuel-economy rating, are powered an all-new highly efficient Atkinson cycle engine and two-motor hybrid system. Fuel efficiency is the best ever for Accord in the EPA Midsize class, with 4-cylinder models earning a 36 mpg highway EPA rating and the V-6 models garnering a 34 mpg highway EPA rating.

In addition to fuel economy ratings leadership, the Accord has continually led the industry in meeting strict emissions standards. The Accord Plug-In is the first vehicle to achieve SULEV 20 emissions standards, with the lowest tailpipe emissions of any ICE vehicle currently available. Additionally the Accord was the first vehicle to meet ULEV (1998) and SULEV (2000) emissions standards.

Accord was the most popular midsize passenger car in America through September of 2013, based on sales to individual (non-fleet) car buyers, according to new vehicle registration data from R.L. Polk.

Come test drive an Accord today at Executive Honda and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter for further news and updates.

All-New 2014 Accord Hybrid Sale

Forget the candy corn, the must-have Halloween treat this year is the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, with an exceptional EPA fuel economy rating of 50 mpg city and fun-to-drive performance, sophisticated styling and premium comfort features. The Accord Hybrid goes on sale today to be spirited away from Honda dealerships across the country with an MSRP starting from $29,155.

Behind the Accord Hybrid's class-leading fuel-economy rating is Honda's Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive (i-MMD) two-motor hybrid system. The innovative and elegant system transitions seamlessly between electric motor power, gasoline engine power and hybrid gas-electric propulsion, delivering power to the wheels without the need for a conventional transmission.

Sharing the Accord Sedan's sophisticated design yet with exclusive styling accents, the made-in-America Accord Hybrid comes very well equipped with standard features including LED Daytime Running Lights (DRL), Smart Entry, Honda Lane Watch™ and Rearview camera, plus a 10-way power driver's seat, heated side mirrors and 17-inch alloy wheels. The Accord Hybrid EX-L adds numerous premium features including leather seating, heated front seats with memory driver's seat, 360-watt premium audio, 4-way power front passenger's seat, and power moonroof. The line-topping Accord Hybrid Touring adds a HDD navigation system, LED headlights, adaptive cruise control and Homelink™.

2014 Accord Hybrid Pricing:

TRIM	MSRP	EPA Fuel Economy Ratings (city/highway/combined)
Hybrid	$29,155	50/45/47
Hybrid EX-L	$31,905	50/45/47
Hybrid Touring	$34,905	50/45/47

Come test drive an Accord Hybrid today at Executive Honda, and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter for more news and updates.

2014 Civic to Once Again Raise the Bar with Coupe World Debut at SEMA Show

Just one year after major improvements established the Honda Civic as the clear compact segment leader, Honda will further its segment leadership again with new enhancements to the Civic lineup for 2014. Details and technical changes will be announced in the coming weeks, but the world will get its first look at some of the changes when the 2014 Honda Civic Coupe makes its world debut at the 2013 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas during a press conference scheduled for Nov. 5th at 9:30 a.m. PT. 

As one of the key vehicles sparking the original import tuner movement of the late 1980's and early 1990's, the Honda Civic has been the platform of choice for those seeking personalization potential and built-in performance coupled with unmatched reliability. The 2014 Civic Coupe will honor that proud tradition by making its debut among its most ardent fans, displaying multiple variations at the 2013 SEMA Show. 

Along with the Civic, the Honda SEMA booth (24987) will feature an impressive array of personalized automobiles, motorcycles and the 133-mph "Mean Mower" developed by Honda (UK) and their title-winning British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) partner, Team Dynamics. 

Check out the Civics at Executive Honda, and be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more news and updates.