Honda P-NUT Concept to debut in Los Angeles

Honda will unveil at the Los Angeles Motor Show a concept named P-nut, who wants to be an aggressive coupe for large urban areas. Honda continues the series of innovative concepts at this year’s edition of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Japanese have issued a press release that announced the launch of the P-nut prototype, a name derived from the abbreviation of words Personal-Neo Urban Transport, on 2nd December, the day when American salon opens its gates. From the first information it seems that Honda’s stand will host a futuristic coupe with aggressive design lines, created by the research and development center of Honda from Los Angeles.

Its aim is to illustrate the Asian vision of a compact urban design, for those who want mobility in congested cities. There are not any information about the powertrain that the concept will adopt but judging by past trends of Honda models, we have all chances to see a hybrid system with improved performance.

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Honda S2000, CR-Z convertible follow Acura NSX and V8 to scrap heap

Last month we learned that Honda had canceled plans to build a new V10-powered replacement replacement for its departed NSX sports car. Now, AutoCar is reporting that several other vehicle programs at Honda have fallen victim to the new economic and environmental reality. In addition to the NSX, Acura was due to get a new rear wheel drive platform and V8 engine for its sedans so they could better compete with products from BMW and Mercedes as well as Infiniti and Lexus. The new architecture and engine are now on ice.

Over on the Honda brand side of the house, two future sporty car programs have also been killed. A replacement for the S2000 roadster will apparently never see the light of day and a convertible version of upcoming CR-Z has also been shelved. The CR-Z hybrid coupe will debut in 2010 based on the new Insight.

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Honda advertises cars with green hybrid billboards

Click above to enlarge

If you are going to bill yourselves as the World's Greenest Automaker, as Honda does from time to time, you'd better be willing to back it up. Luckily, Honda always seems to be looking for a way to do just that. Whether it's by offering the best overall fuel economy in the United States or powering billboards with solar power, Honda is often a step ahead. Wait, hold on... powering billboards with solar power? Yep, in the land of Oz at least, Honda has partnered up with APN Outdoor to create Australia's first eco-friendly outdoor advertisements. The solar panels provide power when possible and a backup electrical connection that gets its power from a green feed is there to pick up the slack. This may be a small thing, but we'll take it. We should also mention that Honda has invested in solar technology itself, with its Soltec subsidiary opening for business in 2006 and now selling panels for residential or commercial use.

[Source: Honda]

PRESS RELEASE

TULLAMARINE, Australia - January 5, 2009: Honda, the world leader in low emission, fuel efficient vehicles, has taken Hybrid technology to new heights... literally.

In an Australian media first, massive billboards featuring the new Honda Accord Euro are illuminated by green solar power; with green energy electric backup. Just like a Hybrid.

Outdoor advertising specialists, APN Outdoor have installed solar panels on several of the billboards around Australia.

Honda Australia Marketing Manager, John Pranger said the idea of the solar billboard campaign was immediately attractive. "Honda's well-earned reputation for minimising its environmental impact made this opportunity very attractive. Our goal is to leave green skies for our kids and harnessing natural energy sources goes a long way to achieve this. We also thought, as this has never been done before, it's perfect for Honda to lead the way once again."

Honda subsidiary Soltec commenced production and sales of ultra-thin solar panels throughout Japan in October 2008.

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