TPT March 2012

G lobal M arketplace

skittishness about acknowledging an American connection. From Ohio, the sole global production site, Honda will export the car to Japan, Europe, China and other markets. When the NSX goes on sale within three years, at a sticker price of over $100,000, it will be the most expensive and technologically advanced car ever built in the US by an Asian or European auto maker. Writing from the show in the Detroit Free Press , Alan Ohnsman and Yuki Hagiwara noted the dual significance of Honda’s decision to confine production of the NSX to the American Midwest. It confirms the Japanese auto giant’s confidence in its US engineers and plants. It also reflects the difficulty of producing autos in Japan as the yen rises. (“Honda to Build Supercar in US,” 21 January) “This is a halo vehicle,” former Toyota engineer John Shook told the reporters: a model that represents the highest ideal of a brand. He is chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute (Cambridge, Massachusetts), which consults on efficiency techniques. “Where you make it makes a statement,” he said. “It’s a great thing for their local operation, and indicative of challenges in Japan.” The original NSX that sold, for $89,000, from 1989 to 2005 was built in Suzuka, Japan, and was prized by performance-car fans for its high power and all-aluminium body. Mr Ohnsman and Ms Hagiwara recalled that it gained pop-culture fame when driven by Winston (“The Wolf”) Wolfe, played by Harvey Keitel, in “Pulp Fiction” (1994). Noting a destination 30 minutes away, the actor says: “I’ll be there in ten.”

According to Honda president Takanobu Ito, who was lead engineer on the first NSX, the company plans to race the later model as well as sell it. The all-wheel-drive NSX will have a newly developed two- motor hybrid system that Honda says delivers high performance and handling as well as fuel efficiency. Its mid-engine design houses most of the weight of the powertrain in the centre of the vehicle for optimal balance and agility. › Honda’s plan to make its costliest model abroad, disclosed by Mr Ito at the Detroit show, followed an announcement last August that a Honda plant in Mexico will make small cars to help offset losses from exporting models such as the Fit from Japan. As noted by the Free Press , the two projects will give Honda the ability to produce its entire vehicle range, from cheapest to most expensive, within North America, a first for any car maker based outside the US. Transportation Hopes for inter-city bullet trains across the US hit a speed-bump in obstructionist political terrain “A national high-speed rail network would not only support tens of thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs. It would [also] get Americans out of their cars, revitalise struggling downtowns,

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