Honda to launch “Crosstour”
CUV in North America,
Honda, Japan’s No
2 carmaker by sales after Tokyo, is updating its product line-up and launching
a new model in U S. Honda has just unveiled its answer to the Toyota Venza, the
Chevy Traverse, and the Ford Edge. Releasing technical details of its upcoming
ACCORD CROSSTOUR. The Crosstour pilot SUV when it debuts in the North American
market this fall as a 2010 model. The Crosstour vehicle will start production
in September at Honda’s East Liberty factory in Ohio. The brilliant thing about
Honda's new clean diesel technology is that it does nothing to alter the
character of the company's existing 2.2-liter i-CTDi engine from European
Accord, and pretty strong acceleration after a slightly soft step-off. The injection time was reduced by a new 29,000-psi
common-rail system, this engine is a new dual-layer NOx catalyst (which
supplements the existing carbon-monoxide and hydrocarbon-oxidizing catalyst and
particulate trap systems) to help meet stringent EPA Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions
regulations.
The exhaust gases are treated by a three-way
catalyzation process which reduces NOx by about 99 percent.
This is impossible
in the oxygen-rich environment of a lean-burn diesel engine, where three-way
catalysts achieve perhaps a 10-percent reduction in NOx. In response, some
manufacturers have been employing urea-injection systems to reduce NOx
emissions. But not Honda.
The effect is
similar to having an onboard ammonia source (such as Mercedes-Benz's AdBlue
urea supply), but without having to replenish the tank. Only when accelerated
hard did the new system spike above that level, but to a much smaller degree
than did the conventional diesel.
Honda is naturally
circumspect in regard to the exact material specification of the new catalyst,
but it's clear that engine management plays a large role in the control of the
new catalyst's functions. So even when competing car manufacturers
reverse-engineer Honda's components, as they undoubtedly will, they will
probably still face significant engineering challenges.
Honda is
particularly dependent on the American market, the story said, citing analysts
who estimate that nearly 80% of Honda's operating profit is from the U.S.
Although Honda's
U.S. vehicle sales for the first five months of the year rose 1.8%, according
to Autodata Corp., it is well behind Toyota's 8.5% gain during the same period.
Honda is hoping to
improve its fortunes with the September launch of a new Accord, which, with
U.S. sales of 352,000 models last year, is Honda's best-selling model.
Further down the
line, Honda plans to intro redesigned versions its Pilot SUV and Ridgeline
pickup. Meanwhile, rather than update these two aging models, Honda will invest
more on marketing and advertising for fuel-efficient Fit and Civic models, the
story said. A new $400 million factory in Greensburg, Ind., which is expected
to produce as many as 200,000 Civics a year, will open next year.