Honda used the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) Show to announce the introduction of a new line of Mugen Accessories for the 2010 Accord. Mugen has long been known as a performance parts company, building special edition cars for Honda as well as assisting in the company’s motorsports programs.

The list of Mugen parts for the Accord include: 18-inch wheels, a new front grille and front lip spoiler, side skirts, a rear bumper valance, as well as floor mats, a machined aluminum oil ca and a special front emblem. The parts will be available through authorized Honda dealers and all body panels will come pre-painted in one of five Accord factor colors: Polished Metal Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Alabaster Silver Metallic, White Diamond Pearl and Taffeta White.

“With a growing accessory lineup, now including Mugen kits for the Accord sedan and Fit, Honda is committed to supporting personalization of our vehicles into the future,” said Bruce Smith, VP of Parts Operations for American Honda Motor Co.

The complete lineup of Mugen Accessories for the 2010 Accord will be available starting November 11th.

GALLERY: 2010 Honda Accord with Mugen Accessories

With the Cash-for-Clunkers program officially ending last night, the U.S. Department of Transportation has now released its top 10 list of the most purchased vehicles under the program, with the most popular car purchased being the Toyota Corolla.

Toyotas actually took three of the top 10 spots, with the Camry placing third and the new Prius ranking seventh. Honda did equally well, taking three of the top 10 spots, with the Civic coming in second, the Accord 8th and the Fit 9th.

Nissan and Hyundai each had one spot on the list with the Versa in 6th and the Elantra in 5th. Ford was the only U.S. automaker to break into the top 10, with the front-wheel drive Focus in 4th and the FWD Escape in 10th.

The “Top 10″ list doesn’t tell the whole story, however. While no General Motors products are listed in the top 10, collectively, GM products accounted for 17.6% of the total of new cars purchased under the program, second only to Toyota with 19.4%.

In total, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) generated 690,114 transactions worth a total of $2.8 billion.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment. This is one of the best economic news stories we’ve seen and I’m proud we were able to give consumers a helping hand.”

In total, 84 percent of consumers traded in trucks, while 59 percent purchased cars. The average fuel economy of a car traded in was 15.8 mpg, whereas the average fuel economy of a car purchased was 24.9 mpg – an improvement of 9.2 mpg or 58 percent.

[Source: Department of Transportation]

The All-American Impala: Made in Canada

During President Obama’s press conference last week when he announced that Chrylser would file for Chapter 11, he asked Americans that if they were looking to buy a car, to look at American cars. The “buy American” philosophy drew harsh criticism from the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), which pointed out that buying American doesn’t necessarily mean buying a car from an American brand.

“AIADA objects to President Obama’s ‘buy American’ solution for the auto sector,” AIADA President Cody Lusk said in a statement. “In today’s globalized economy ‘buying American’ can mean anything from buying a Chevy Avalanche built by Mexican workers in Silao, Mexico to buying a Toyota Camry built by Americans in Georgetown, Kentucky.”

On that note, there is one way to tell exactly which country a car is manufactured in – the VIN number. That’s right, that odd 17-digit sequence of numbers and letters found on the dash under the windshield (and in numerous other places on a vehicle) holds the key to a vehicle’s country of origin.

Many VIN numbers, actually start with a letter. Those that start with a “J” are built in Japan and those with a “K” are from Korea. Most of the rest, however, aren’t so intuitive. VINs that start with a “W” are from Germany, while an “S” signifies England. Swedish cars get a “Y.”

The United States, Canada and Mexico all use a number system, with American-made cars using a VIN that starts with the number 1, while Canadian-made cars use a 2 and Mexican made cars use a 3.

The number of American vehicles made outside the U.S. is actually quite significant, while many “foreign” cars are built in American. In fact, one of America’s best-selling vehicles (and one that is also typically American) is actually built in Canada – the Chevy Impala.

Other made-in-Canada cars include the Buick Lacrosse, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKX, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

Made-in Mexico cars include the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Chevrolet HHR. And as for the the Chevy Aveo sub-compact, it comes from Korea.

On the flip-side, there are plenty of Japanese (and even some German) vehicles built in the U.S. of A. Some of the most significant include the high volume Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, while the Honda Element and Toyota Avalon are also U.S. products. Nissan builds several models in the United States while BMW manufactures the Z4 as well as the X5 and X6 in South Carolina.

… The more you know…

[Source: La Times]

The Lexus LS460, Rated the Best Overall Car by Consumer Reports for 2008

Consumer Reports has just released its list of the best cars in each class and the Japanese are dominating with 8 vehicles (out of 10) in the top spots. CR says it bases its results on three variables: Road Tests, Reliability and Safety.

For a car to be a top pick it must have ranked at the top of its class in an overall test score, which includes 50 individual tests. A Car must also have an average of better predicted reliability rating and must perform “adequately” in safety tests by the NHTSA or IIHS. Consumer Reports also stipulates that for any car to be a top pick it must have stability control (ESC).

And The Winners are:

Best Overall: Lexus LS460

-powerful, good fuel-economy,uncompromising luxury

Best Family Sedan: Honda Accord

-Roomy, well-rounded and fun to drive, plus ESC (Altima bested Accord in most tests but not all Altimas come with ESC)

Best Pickup Truck: Chevrolet Avalanche

-functional and comfortable

Best Small SUV: Toyota Rav4

-roomy and quiet, good on gas with 4 or 6-cyl, third row seat available

Best Midsized SUV: Toyota Highlander

-quiet, three rows of seats, decent fuel economy, versatile, AWD optional, Hybrid available

Best Minivan: Toyota Sienna

-versatile, seating for 8, rivals luxury cars for interior, AWD optional

Best Small Car: Hyundai Elantra

-comfortable and roomy wih good fuel economy, ESC on SE model

Best Green Car: Toyota Prius

-Prius wins six years running

Best UpScale Sedan: Infiniti G37

-Agile, great interior, AWD optional, luxury and sport all in one.

Best Fun to Drive Car: Mazda MX-5 Miata

-Tied Boxster in testing but costs half as much

[Source: Consumer Reports]