This really reads like a PR plant. Honda (the company) is no longer like what it was under Soichiro Honda. The bad reception of the 2012 Civic¹ was somewhat o

This really reads like a PR plant. Honda (the company) is no longer like what it was under Soichiro Honda. The bad reception of the 2012 Civic¹ was somewhat of a wakeup call for them, but they have been late to market with gasoline direct injection (GDI) motors, and there aren't any American-spec diesels in development (the Pilot, Odyssey, and possible refresh of the Ridgeline could really use the torque). Given the trend (a new chairman every 5-6 years), we should expect to see new leadership at Honda soon, and perhaps he will speed up product development, and return more of the decision making to the engineers. Surprising rumors are that they have licensed the ZF 9-speed transmission, which will really help with the fuel economy. And give the Pilot gearing that will help it off-road (the 9-speed often starts off in a higher gear, leaving 1st and/or 2nd for a simulated "low range"). I was expecting them to go with one of the Aisin models, actually. This is a big cultural change for Honda, as they have traditionally designed and built their own transmissions. Given the stupendous cost of creating a new automatic transmission (well over a billion dollars), this will free up a lot of capital for them. ¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(ninth_generation)#2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(ninth_generation)#...