I thought this was significant when I first read it yesterday.

Especially in America, the Civic has been a solid small car choice for decades, the one to beat for quality, economy and long term value.

Not that it's a bad car now but it has been knocked off it's pedestal. Maybe because the Civic is no longer sold in Japan it has lost it's makers former dedication. I must say you could see something like this coming for the last several years at Honda. Losing favor with the Si crowd, boring styling and never reviving the Prelude even. And the Integra giving way to the TSX on the Acura side.

On the other end of the performance scale the NSX fell off with no replacement in sight. With the 2011 Acura LeMans effort being canned, due to economic worries(they said), I wonder if it is an overall company health concern the last decade.... or if they're just being their usual ultra conservative self....seemingly letting the Korean's take the mantle.

Please forgive my rambling.

Honda Civic loses Recommended rating from Consumer Reports [UPDATE]