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Consumer Reports slams new Honda Civic

Honda Motor Co., still struggling with supply shortages of the redesigned 2012 Civic after the March earthquake in Japan, took a slap in the face today when Consumer Reports rated the new Civic "too low to be recommended." The 2012 Honda Civic dropped 17 points, from a very-good score of 78 to a mediocre 61, in the latest Consumer Reports road test of small cars. Previous Honda Civic models have often been Consumer Reports' highest rated small sedans, as well as Top Picks in five of the past 10 years. But the redesigned model was slammed for the cheapness of its interior, poor ride quality, long stopping distances and loud interior noise.

17,000 solar panels to power Toyota’s Derbyshire plant

Toyota’s manufacturing plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire, where the Auris and Avensis are built, will install the biggest solar panel system yet seen in a UK car plant.  British Gas, which will stump up the £10 million cost of installing the solar panels, and Toyota are working together to save 2000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. Once the solar panels are installed, they claim it will save enough energy to build approximately 7000 cars a year.

Electric Kia Soul planned for 2014

Kia has revealed that they will offer a battery electric version of the next generation Kia Soul when it arrives in 2014. Hyundai may have seen the light and decided the future for cars lies with hydrogen fuel cell cars and not battery electric cars, but sister company Kia thinks differently. It seems an odd polarity for the Korean siblings to take different routes to the future of powertrains for cars, but perhaps it’s just a case of hedging bets rather than an inability by Kia to see how impractical the BEV is as a replacement for a normal ICE car?