Day: March 30, 2021

Kelley Blue Book Announces Winners of 2021 Brand Image Awards

By Michael J. Moody 8 months ago

IRVINE, Calif., March 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Automotive brands are among the most recognized worldwide, capturing attention as car shoppers consider one of life’s biggest purchase decisions. Brands that impress consumers generate greater interest and increased positive perceptions, which ultimately can pave the way for increased sales. Recognizing automakers’ outstanding achievements in shaping and maintaining brand attributes that earn the attention and enthusiasm of new-car buyers, Kelley Blue Book today announces the 2021 Brand Image Award winners, based on annual new-car buyer perception data. Award categories are calculated among luxury, non-luxury and truck shoppers.




Winners of the Brand Image Awards demonstrate that they are succeeding in capturing the attention of new-car shoppers.

“Brand perception and purchase consideration are incredibly important factors for automakers to consider as they develop their new products and related marketing communications,” said Isabelle Helms, vice president of research and market intelligence for Cox Automotive. “The well-recognized

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Renesas Says Fire-Hit Chip Plant to Restart By Mid-April

By Michael J. Moody 8 months ago
Renesas May Complete Naka Plant Inspections Early

Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Renesas Electronics Corp. said production at a semiconductor factory hit by a fire is on track to resume by mid-April, welcome news from one of the top providers of automotive chips amid a global shortage.

One of the company’s most advanced lines at its plant in Naka, north of Tokyo, has been halted since a fire broke out late on March 19. Production will resume after about a month, as Renesas had previously projected, Chief Executive Officer Hidetoshi Shibata said at a briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday.

A recovery to full production may take 100 days, he said, though progress in the damaged clean room is ahead of schedule. About three-quarters of the work in progress was undamaged by the fire, he added.

“We are increasingly confident in our chances of achieving the goal,” Shibata said in the online briefing.

Booming demand for laptops,

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2022 Honda Civic sedan leaked in new spy photos

By Michael J. Moody 8 months ago
2022 Honda Civic Sedan Spy Photo 03

The new Civic sedan is a real looker.


Civic XI Forum

Here’s another good look at the upcoming 2022 Honda Civic. With all the leaks and spy photos circulating of late, the redesigned version of this ever-popular small car is one of the worst kept secrets in the automotive business these days. Fresh photos of the sedan model were shared on the Civic XI Forum last week.

The reworked 2022 Civic is shown off in two colors: one is said to be Platinum White and the other Lunar Silver, though both hues look pretty similar in the dim light of these spy shots. This crop of new Civics appears to be strapped to the back of a car hauler, likely leaving a manufacturing plant in Japan.

As we’ve seen in other spy photos of the new Civic and as presaged by the prototype model that was unveiled late last

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