World Auto News & Reviews

USAA, a leading financial services provider to the U.S. military and their families, today named the 2012 Honda CR-Z Sport Hybrid Coupe to its second annual Best Value vehicles list, which identifies the top 2012 automobiles in 16 categories that give consumers the most bang for their buck. In addition, today USAA named the CR-Z to its “Top 10 for Teens List,” which focuses on traits parents said they cared about most: reliability, safety and affordable insurance costs.

The Honda CR-Z rose to the top in the coupe category, recognized for offering best-in-class EPA fuel economy ratings, achieving the “Top Safety Pick” designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and offering reasonable maintenance and ownership costs.

The 2012 Honda Civic sedan is one of the 10 Best Green Cars of 2012, according to Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com. The Civic’s latest accolade is particularly timely due to rising gas prices, but standout fuel efficiency alone is not enough to win a spot on Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com annual 10 Best Green Cars list, as its editors also weigh factors such as value, features and comfort.

“The 2012 Honda Civic sedan is the complete package for any consumer, and one that also provides a host of fuel-efficient powertrain options,” said Art St. Cyr, vice president of corporate planning for American Honda. “We’re delighted that Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com editors acknowledged the most versatile offering in the class.”

Three Honda vehicles have been named a 10 Best Family Car by Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com. The 2012 Honda CR-V, 2012 Honda Odyssey and 2012 Honda Civic have all made Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com 10 Best Family Cars of 2012 list. The annual list rates vehicles on ‘family-approved’ attributes like available safety features, comfort, child-friendliness, strong consumer ratings and impressive Kelley Blue Book Total Cost of Ownership statistics.

“We are honored to have three members of the Honda lineup recognized as benchmark family cars by Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com,” said Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing operations for American Honda. “To be recognized as providing the kind of safety, features and value required of the modern family machine speaks to the core attributes of every Honda vehicle.”

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today that the 2012 Honda Odyssey has received the 2012 MotorWeek Drivers’ Choice Award for Best Minivan. This is the sixth time the Odyssey has garnered the Drivers’ Choice Award from MotorWeek, with Honda’s benchmark minivan having won the award in back-to-back years in 1999/2000, 2005/2006 and now 2011/2012.

Designed and built1 in the United States, the eight-passenger Odyssey features the highest EPA2 highway fuel economy rating for an eight-passenger minivan of 28 mpg for Odyssey Touring. It has also earned the best possible safety ratings from both NHTSA (5-Star Overall Vehicle Score) and the IIHS (TOP SAFETY PICK), an achievement that no other currently-tested minivan can match.

Honda presented the keys to a 2012 Civic Natural Gas to Anaheim Ducks NHL star George Parros at the American Honda campus yesterday in Torrance, Calif. Under an agreement with American Honda, Parros will drive the Civic Natural Gas to create awareness of the vehicle amongst his Ducks teammates and fans.

Awarded the 2012 Green Car of the Year®, the  Civic Natural Gas is the only OEM-built, CNG-powered passenger car for sale in the U.S. Now available at 197 dealers in 36 states, the 2012 Civic Natural Gas is powered by the cleanest internal-combustion engine certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Tier-II, Bin-2 and ILEV certification as of August 2010). The Civic Natural Gas currently qualifies for a state-issued decal allowing single-occupant access to High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) “carpool” lanes in California and several other states.