Despite Getting A Refresh, Honda Civic Sales Are Falling Rapidly
Honda鈥檚 November sales were down by 9.5 percent thanks to declining demand for passenger cars. It鈥檚 no secret that demand for passenger cars is falling as crossovers and SUVs continue to rise in popularity. Ford boldly responded to this shifting market trend by axing all of its US passenger cars apart from the Mustang, but the gamble doesn't seem to be paying off yet. According to Automotive News, Ford鈥檚 US sales fell 6.9 percent in November thanks to falling car demand and lower truck deliveries. Truck demand has slipped 2.3 percent while SUV and utility sales dropped 4.9 percent and car deliveries are down 18 percent for the year. Honda鈥檚 US sales are also suffering significantly as a result of the declining demand for passenger cars like the Civic. November US sales are down by 9.5 percent, and despite an 11 percent increase in Acura sales, overall American Honda sales are now down 2.8 percent for the year. Looking at the bigger picture, overall US car sales in November are expected to be down by around two percent, representing the first year-over-year November decline since 2009 despite end-of-year sales promotions and Black Friday deals. The unrelenting demand for crossovers isn鈥檛 solely to blame, however, as analysts also believe rising interest rates and trade fears are affecting auto sales. 鈥淣ovember鈥檚 sales slowdown signifies a new normal that we can expect through at least the end of 2018, and likely into 2019,鈥?said Jeremy Acevedo, manager of industry analysis at Edmunds.
But Genoa prosecutors say they are focusing their investigation into possible criminal blame on design flaws or inadequate maintenance on the heavily used bridge, which was completed in 1967 and linked two high-speed motorways in the city. 鈥淢y boy and the others suffered murder,鈥?said Roberto Battiloro, whose 29-year-old son, a videographer, was one of the four friends who died. His voice shaking with anger, Mr Battiloro said his son was the 鈥渧ictim of a cruel fate, but also of whoever didn鈥檛 think that on that bridge could be the children of those who are despairing today鈥? 鈥淚 have died inside, but I have to find the clarity of mind to say that four boys were not number 27, number 28, etc (on the victims鈥?list), but people who loved life,鈥?Mr Battiloro declared. Other private funerals were held in Piedmont and elsewhere in Italy. Survivors were shocked at how they escaped with their lives.
Davide Capello, 33, a firefighter and football player, was driving alone on the bridge when his Volkswagen Tiguan and the road it was on plunged to the ground. He immediately understood that the structure was collapsing, watching in shock as a car in front of him 鈥渄isappeared in darkness鈥? 鈥淚t came down, everything, the world came down,鈥?he said, adding that he managed to walk away physically unharmed but psychologically traumatised. His car plunged nose first, then stopped with a crash, air bags releasing all around him. He said he saw only grey as concrete dust covered the windows. Mr Capello used the touchscreen phone in the car to call colleagues at the Savona dispatch centre, who sent help. He then called his girlfriend and his father, a retired firefighter, who told him to get out of the car immediately for fear that it would destabilise or something heavy would fall on top of it.
Since neither the car鈥檚 windows nor its doors would budge, he unclipped his seat belt and climbed out through a hole in the rear of the car that was blasted open by the crash. Outside, he said, 鈥渢here was an unreal silence鈥?- destroyed vehicles and piles of broken concrete, but no signs of life, no cries for help. Rescue workers then helped him climb down from the rubble. 鈥淚 got out with my own legs,鈥?said Mr Capello, who plays for a Serie C club in Liguria. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if anyone else managed to. 鈥淭he car protected me. Besides God, the car also did its job,鈥?Mr Capello said. On Thursday, prosecutors said as many as 20 people could still be missing in the bridge collapse, but cautioned that some people initially reported as unaccounted for might be on holiday and had not yet contacted their families. Civil protection department officials said on Friday there might only be five people missing, but the exact number was fluctuating.
Excavators have begun clearing large sections of the collapsed bridge. Rescuers have been tunnelling through tons of jagged steel and concrete blocks to look inside crushed vehicles. Several vehicles, abandoned by their fleeing occupants on the intact ends of the bridge, were gingerly removed on Friday. Among them was a green food delivery truck, which - its windscreen wipers swishing, its gear stick in reverse - had halted only a few metres from the jagged edge of the abyss. For many, the truck at the brink became a symbol of destiny and survival. Motorway workers, directed by firefighters, backed it off the bridge and into a nearby tunnel. Authorities are worried about the stability of large remaining sections of the bridge, which was built over or adjacent to several apartment buildings. Hundreds of residents in those buildings have been evacuated - and there is no guarantee they will ever return to those homes. Emergency workers also want to quickly remove the tons of debris that fell into the dry riverbed under the bridge so it does not create a dam that floods the rest of the city if heavy rains fall again.
