Manly Honda Santa Rosa

The earthquake and tsunami that recently hit Japan has left The Big Three standing in a lurch, and all Japanese automakers are still assessing the impact the natural disasters have had on specific vehicle model lines. There is, however, good news on the Honda front. The Big H has reported that inventories of both the Honda Fit and the Honda Civic are "good" and that no shortages of the Honda Civic are expected.

"Of the two [Fit and Civic], only Fit is import-only for the U.S.," wrote Edward K. Miller, Senior Manager News and Industry Relations, Honda North America…

Every year, automakers receive their annual report card from industry- and customer-acclaimed Consumer Reports. For some automakers, such as Honda (who "still make[s] the best vehicles overall" according to Consumer Reports' April issue), this offers the opportunity to proudly show off their A+ aptitude to potential car buyers. For others, it's a time consumed with trying to keep their scores from potential buyers.

Luckily/unluckily for automakers, Consumer Reports scores are never graded on a curve like some of our fifth-grade math tests were. Rather, they are carefully calculated based on the car manufacturer's predicted reliability rankings…