While the 2012 Honda Civic has clearly not impressed the staff at Consumer Reports, the same can’t be said for its smaller sibling the Fit.

For the second year in a row, the Honda subcompact has been named as the best value choice when it comes to small cars; it was also judged best value overall from a field of some 200 competitors, high praise indeed.

During its evaluation of finding the year’s best value vehicles, Consumer Reports, tested cars, SUVs and trucks  from a total of 11 different categories. Scores were determined based on a five-year ownership cost of each vehicle, including depreciation, insurance premiums, fuel costs, interest on financing, repairs and maintenance and sales taxes. Consumer Reports also added it’s own road test scores and projected reliability to each tally.

When all was said and done, the Fit emerged as the overall winner in the small car category, followed by the Toyota Prius Hybrid, Volkswagen Golf TDI (manual gearbox), Toyota Corolla and Scion xD. Most of these cars scored twice as high as the average vehicle rating in the value survey, while the Chevy Cruze, which finished last in the small car category, still earned a total  score close to the average overall value of all vehicles tested.

Rik Paul, automotive editor at Consumer Reports, said in regards to the survey, that “a cheap vehicle can wind up costing you more money over time or can be disappointing down the road.  We think real value is what you get for your money.” Indeed.

Imported vehicles in the United States are selling at their highest price premium in more than a decade, as a result of a weak US dollar compared with other currencies like the Euro and Yen.

The result has been a negative impact on the sales of lower priced imported vehicles, resulting in American buyers switching to domestic brands such as Chevrolet and Ford.

In fact, the average selling price for a new imported car reached a dizzying $31,536 in August, some $7,614 than the average domestic made vehicle during the same period, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Automakers such as Honda and Toyota are reluctant to import smaller, cheaper offerings, which traditionally have lower profit margins, than larger, more expensive vehicles. The aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and Tsunami in Japan didn’t help matters, resulting in supply issues that further hampered both production and imports.

Other overseas brands, namely premium priced European offerings, gained a greater proportion of imported new car sales, particularly Volkswagen and Audi, according to findings from Paul Ballew, chief economist for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. in Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s very hard to import, especially from Asia, small cars right now because of where the dollar is,” Ballew said. “If you look at luxury-car sales the last few months, they’re up double-digits from a year ago while small cars are down more than 20 percent.”

As the Yen continues its march against the dollar, Japanese manufacturers are less likely to offer incentives to move metal off dealer lots; in fact average industry wide spending on incentives fell some 9.6 percent through September, down to $2,498 per vehicle.

In an effort to counter further profit margin erosion, Japanese automakers are also looking to shift more production of vehicles overseas; Nissan is already boosting investments in plants it operates in Thailand and Mexico, in addition to constructing a new facility in Brazil, scheduled to become operational in 2014.

Toyota meanwhile, is planning to spend some 26.3 billion yen, building a second plant in Indonesia as it aims to build a robust supplier network in that country, part of its goal to not only minimize future supply problems but boost vehicle demand in emerging markets.

Even German automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen are investing heavily overseas, the former expanding operations in South Carolina, while the former has opened a new plant in Tennessee, marking the first time that VW vehicles have been assembled in the US since 1988.

According to Ballew, “import manufacturers cannot afford to do what they’ve normally done in terms of bringing in products from Asian markets. You’re looking at some temporary anomalies, but you’re also looking at some structural changes. There is some renewed energy to bring manufacturing into the US.”

[Source: Automotive News]

As Typhoon Roke made landfall on the Pacific Coast of Honshu, Japan’s largest island on September 22, automakers in the country, including Toyota, Honda and Nissan had shuttered plants and other facilities in anticipation of potential damage.

According to Environmental News Service, the Typhoon brought with it heavy rain and driving winds as it headed Northwest across Hammatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. At the time of posting this blog, there had been reports of some 1,000 homes in 30 different Prefectures flooded by rain, while some 90,000 dwellings had lost power. In addition some 367 people had reportedly been injured as a result of the Typhoon, while four were declared missing.

As Japan is now in the midst of Typhoon season, there will likely be others making landfall shortly, with the potential to wreak further havoc on the country’s citizens and infrastructure, making local automakers nervous. Given the fallout from March’s earthquake and Tsunami, Japanese manufacturers will likely be glad to see the back of 2011, though contingency plans put in place should ensure that production and supply chains won’t be disrupted in the same fashion as they were earlier this year.

[Source: Environmental News Service]

This year hasn’t been the kindest to Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota. The devastation wrought by March’s earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, resulted in severe disruptions to their supply chains, causing dealer inventories to run low and other automakers to gain ground in sales.

However, after a dismal July, there are signs that both Honda and Toyota are gaining momentum; supply from Japan has improved, while factories in North America are running in overdrive in an effort to boost vehicle inventory to more ‘normal’ levels.

Even though rivals, including Detroit’s big three, have gained ground this year as a result of problems facing the Japanese duo, most seem to view  Honda and Toyota’s improving fortunes quite favorably.

Don Johnson, General Motors’ US sales head, believes that more Hondas and Toyotas on dealer lots will help stimulate overall growth in new car sales, bringing back buyers who’ve been sitting on the fence. ”A lot of brand-loyal customers have chosen to sit on the sidelines until selection and price improve,” he says. “They will be coming back into the market.”

That said, it is likely to be some time before inventory levels reach pre-March totals. Randy Pflughaupt, group vice president of sales administration for Toyota, believes it will be 2012 before the automaker achieves year-over-year sales increases; Honda meanwhile, is currently running at around 95 percent of normal production in Japan, with full inventory achieved on all US product lines bar the Civic which traditionally is one of it’s most popular models.

According to a number industry analysts, it’s inventory that defines the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in the marketplace and right now, as it stands, Domestic brands are leading the way, Chrysler boasting a 72 day supply on its vehicles, allowing it to post a 20 percent gain in sales during July, as Honda and Toyota combined, slipped 6.9 percent. Ford, with a 54 day supply has seen sales jump by 13 percent for the bread and butter brand and 40 percent for Lincoln in the same period. GM, with a 73 day supply has reported gains of some 8 percent.

“Whoever has the cars, outsells everybody,” declared Ralph Martinez, a Chrysler dealer principal from Wilsonville, Oregon. “People are out there buying,” he said, but “they’re going to places that have a good selection.”

[Source: Automotive News]

The Earthquake disaster in Japan may prompt European car makers to seek suppliers closer to them, the chief of Europe’s automobile association said.

Ivan Hodac, secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, said that some car makers are still being affected by the disaster that caused several Japanese auto manufacturers to suspend operations. Hodac also stated this disaster affected many automakers outside of Japan.

Hodac also added that European auto makers want suppliers to be much closer, ostensibly to prevent any future production disruptions. The issue of a possible free trade agreement between the European Union and Japan, Hodac expressed fears that such it would provide a “one-sided advantage” for Japan. Hodac would prefer an agreement based on a level playing field instead.

[Source: Just Autos]

Given the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, the Japanese economy, not surprisingly has been struggling to stay on track.

For Japanese automakers, the situation has proved particularly problematic, even for their overseas operations as ongoing problems at home affect the global supply chain. Toyota has warned that production of vehicles in the US and Canada could be affected because  supplies of some parts from Japan are running low.

In fact, the company issued an internal memo to employees declaring “our supply line has reached a point where it is clear we will incur some non-production time.” Though the actual amount of this ‘non-production’ time still remains uncertain.

Having said that, the company is also assuring both its North American employees and retailers that it had reopened parts facilities in Japan and was doing everything it could to make sure vehicles were available to customers.

[Source: Automotive News]