Friday, 17 October 2014

All-New Acura NSX to be Built in New Ohio Facility from 2015



Honda's luxury arm Acura today announced that the much-anticipated NSX supercar will be built in Ohio at a new Performance Manufacturing Center. The $70 million (€53.9 million) production plant that will occupy 184,000 square feet (17,100 square meters) will be housed inside Honda’s former North American Logistics facility.
The new plant will employ approximately 100 workers drawn from within Honda’s existing operations in Ohio. The V6 hybrid powertrain for the NSX will also be assembled at Honda’s engine plant in Anna, Ohio.
"The location of this facility is in the midst of one of the greatest collections of engineering and production talent in the world. So it makes sense that we will renew the dream and build this high-tech, supercar in Marysville, Ohio," said Hidenobu Iwata, president & CEO of Honda of America.
Honda also announced that Honda R&D Americas chief engineer Ted Klaus (pictured below) will lead the global team developing the new NSX, with Clement D’Souza heading the team that will bring NSX to mass production in 2015.
Developed by a global R&D team led by designers and engineers at Honda R&D Americas, the all-new Acura NSX will be powered by a mid-mounted V6 engine mated to a new Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system.
While the original NSX was built in Japan, the next-generation supercar will be made exclusively in North America and will be exported from there to all over the world, with most markets to get the sports model as a Honda. 

By Dan Mihalascu

PHOTO GALLERY

NSX ConceptAcura-NSX-Concept-2Acura-NSX-Concept-3Acura-NSX-Concept-4Acura-NSX-Concept-5Ted Klaus, Large Project Leader (LPL) for the new Acura NSXTed Klaus, Large Project Leader (LPL) for the new Acura NSXAcura-Honda-NSX-1Acura-Honda-NSX-2Acura-Honda-NSX-3Acura-Honda-NSX-4Acura-Honda-NSX-5Acura-Honda-NSX-6Acura-Honda-NSX-7Acura-Honda-NSX-9Acura-Honda-NSX-10Acura-Honda-NSX-11Acura-Honda-NSX-12Acura-Honda-NSX-13Acura-Honda-NSX-14Acura-Honda-NSX-15Acura-Honda-NSX-16Acura-Honda-NSX-17Acura-Honda-NSX-18Acura-Honda-NSX-19Acura-Honda-NSX-20Acura-Honda-NSX-21Acura-Honda-NSX-22Acura-Honda-NSX-23




Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Mitsubishi to Make PHEV Versions of Next ASX and Pajero / Shogun



The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a definitely a solid proposition in the hybrid sector of the European market, so much so that the manufacturer reportedly wants two more similar models.

According to an AutoNews report, these will be based on next-gen versions of the ASX model (known as the Outlander Sport in the States) and Pajero/Shogun.

An all-new ASX is expected to debut in 2016, while the Pajero/Shogun replacement should arrive two years after. However, the former will have to wait around twelve months after the conventionally-powered model launches before going PHEV in 2017; the Pajero/Shogun will apparently get the variant from launch.

Both are intended for an international audience, but will also be sold in Europe, bringing the number of such vehicles in the Mitsubishi roster up to three. Until then, though, the manufacturer will have facelifted the Outlander, which will be a far more attractive proposition by itself, if it looks anything like what they showed in Paris (pictured).

The other two models will probably follow in its (styling) footsteps but will differ in size – one will be smaller, while the other larger, though they may share a face.

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