AUTO INDUSTRY
Ohio supercar on track
An Ohio-made supercar is closer to reality with the first look at the Acura NSX’s interior, and an update on the exterior.
Honda revealed the car to the media Friday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, about two years ahead of when the model will go on sale.
Honda is not saying where the vehicle will be produced in Ohio. That announcement will likely happen within a few months, a spokesman said.
“As you can see, this is a real head-turner; in some cases, a whole body turner,” said Mike Accavitti, Acura’s vice president of national marketing.
The exterior is “low, wide and sleek,” said Jon Ikeda, Acura’s chief designer.
On the car’s interior, the company says the design is a “human support cockpit. Ikeda said it is a “real expression of man-machine synergy.”
Last year at the show, Honda showed a preliminary version of the NSX’s exterior. This year, the car is much closer to the version that will go into production, though this is not the production version.
Acura, which is Honda’s luxury brand, sold the NSX from 1990 to 2005, a high-performance sports car with a sticker price of about $90,000.
Jeep updates Cherokee
Toledo-made Jeep introduced a refreshed 2014 Grand Cherokee early at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that the company said promises more refinement and better fuel economy.
All 2014 Grand Cherokees will get a new eight speed automatic transmission. Jeep is also offering for the first time a diesel engine in the Grand Cherokee.
“This power plant is everything our customers have been asking for,” said Jeep brand CEO Mike Manley.
The new 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engine will give the 2014 Grand Cherokee 30 miles per gallon on the highway — a significant boost from the 23 mpg highway rating of the current gasoline model.
The new eight-speed transmission should improve fuel economy, the company said.
— Compiled from wire reports