#JohnMendel

Honda has a recent history of ignoring fans who’ve been begging for performance models, but that’s about to change when the new Civic Type R arrives in the U.S. But exactly when is that?

Being the savvy multinational corporation Honda is, it has to take its knocks with some tact. And with its reputation marred by Consumer Reports’ dragging of the 2012 Honda Civic through the muck, it’s no surprise that Honda has issued a statement claiming that they “fundamentally disagree” with the magazine’s review.

Both Honda and Consumer Reports, of course, have valuable reputations in the minds of consumers. And so, “they are definitely finding fault with someone they have shown a lot of love in the past,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for Honda North America.

Mendel picks apart the CR review and finds that “Consumer Reports’ own testing found that Civic’s smooth and efficient powertrain returned “…an impressive 30 mpg overall on regular fuel and 47 mpg on the highway. Only one other compact car the magazine tested did better.” In addition, “as noted in Consumer Reports findings, the Civic excels with a long list of important safety features that are standard on all trim levels.”

Rival publication Motor Trend, “which knows a thing or two about ride and handling,” picked Civic 2nd among eight compact cars in a recent comparison test. This, Mendel says, is proof that the Civic is still a player in the already-competitive small car market. “However, we disagree with Motor Trend as well—we think there is no better compact car than Civic.” Hey now, don’t get greedy!

Lastly, Mendel notes that CR only reviewed one model of the Civic, the LX sedan, while there are six different models across three trim levels. While this could be construed as a fair point, we doubt that some of the Civic’s greater shortcomings could be drastically improved with the ticking of an options box.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic review or hit the jump to watch the video:

Every time a new version of a car is introduced sales are expected to spike. That, however, is not the case with the all-new 2012 Honda Civic with American Honda Motor Co. sales boss John Mendel warning dealers in a memo that supply will be “severely restricted, with limited availability of certain models.”

Even though Toyota saw its dealerships and other facilities picketed by UAW members in 2010, Honda is taking a tough stance on any interference by the United Auto Workers, with John Mendel, Honda‘s executive vice-president, dismissing them in a speech made on Tuesday.

The new Honda CR-Z will go on sale in the U.S. on August 24th, with a starting price of under $20,000 reports InsideLine. Unfortunately the car will not be eligible for a federal tax credit. Apparently the rules state that only 60,000 tax credits for hybrids are allowed per automaker and Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky told IL that Honda passed that mark several years ago. Honda is able to offer the car for so little because of the less-sophisticated nickle-metal hydride battery used (rather than a lithium-ion one).

The next-generation Honda Civic will be delayed until 2011, possibly as a 2012 model year car. This will put the Civic significantly past the typical five-year cycle, stretching until six or possibly even seven years before the ninth-generation car debuts. The current Civic arrived back in September of 2005, making it already quite dated.

Car companies are eternally focused on capturing the all important “youth-market”, some even going as far as to create “youth brands”, like Toyota and their Scion line-up. Honda appears to be taking the opposite track with the launch of their new CR-Z hybrid sports car, hoping to take advantage of the demographic that was in their late teens to late 20’s between 1983 and 1991, when they CRX was, “the ultimate tuner vehicle”, said John Mendel, Honda’s Executive Vice-Preisdent for Automobile Sales. Mendel, who is 55 said that market research showed that the CR-Z was a hit with ” young people and guys my age, because it’s reminiscent of the CR-X.”

The entry-level TSX model will be the first Acura offered with a hybrid powertrain. According to one dealer sourced by Automotive News, the TSX hybrid will be offered starting in 2011.

The Element, the ugly duckling of the Honda lineup, will live on for a second generation. According to a report by Automotive News, Honda VP John Mendel has confirmed that despite the car’s underachieving sales numbers there are good reasons to introduce a modernized version of the functional box.

Honda is warning that it may not meet its forecasted sales target for the all-new 2010 Insight hybrid and is citing both the worldwide recession and the low cost of gas as factors.

Yesterday President Obama announced a new proposal being put forward to increase fuel-economy standards across the board. If enacted, the legislation would see the fleet average for passenger vehicles rise to 35.5 mpg by 2016.

Several months ago we reported that Acura has achieved an historic first by earning a perfect rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for every vehicle in its lineup.

Now Acura has claimed another manufacturer first after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the new Acura TL a perfect 5 star rating. Along with the TL, every other vehicle Acura sells has a perfect 5 star rating from the NHTSA, giving the company the best possible safety score in every vehicle it sells, in both recognized safety

This not only means that the Acura lineup is safe when it comes to withstanding an impact, but the IIHS requires stability control (a life-saving technology) to be on a car in order for it to be award a Top Safety Pick rating.

“No other automotive brand has accomplished what Acura has, nor can make the safety claims that Acura can,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of automobile sales. “When consumers think safety, they really should think Acura.”

Official release after the jump: