With gas prices exploding, hybrids became very popular in the United States and are selling like crazy. However, we might see these cars’ prices rising, because some of these no longer qualify for the tax break or are about to see it reduced sharply. Affected by this measure are the three most popular hybrids sold in America, the Honda Civic hybrid, the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry hybrid.

After last fall the Prius and the Camry saw their $3,150 tax credits disappear, the Honda Civic hybrid’s tax credit was cut in half, starting Tuesday, July 1st, from $1,050 to $525. This happened after the original $2,100 tax credit was cut in half in January.

According to the 2005 federal law that established the hybrid credit, the tax break begins to phase out after a manufacturer sells 60,000 qualifying vehicles. Because of heavy demand for the Prius, Toyota reached that benchmark early in the program, and tax breaks for its Toyota and Lexus brand hybrids were gone by October 2007.

This tax credit cuts are not very popular, with a lot of people believing that the government should support hybrid sales, not increase the taxes. “We need to be reducing our dependence on oil, so why are we taking away something that will encourage people to do that?” asked Ailis Aaron Wolf, spokeswoman for the advocacy group 40mpg.org, which wants to raise mileage standards.

So, what will happen next? Will hybrid sales drop? Honestly, with gas prices skyrocketing, I don’t think so, on the contrary.
Read More: "Tax incentives for hybrids dropping"

It seems that November 9 was a celebration day in the auto industry, because, after VW celebrated its 15 millionth Passat, Honda UK is celebrating its 1 millionth Civic produced at the Swindon plant. The first Civic was produced here on September 19, 1994 and Honda the cars go to over 60 countries worldwide. The anniversary model was a red Honda Civic Type-R, which will go to a British customer.

Ken Keir, Managing Director of Honda (UK) and Senior Vice President of Honda Motor Europe stated:“Civic remains the cornerstone of our UK and European success. Customers love its innovative design and build quality, which not only retains a huge loyal customer base, but is key to us winning new sales across Europe”
Read More: "UK Honda Civic No. 1,000,000"

With rivals like the VW Golf, Renault Megane and Toyota Auris having diesel version, it looks like Honda is also planning a diesel powerplant for its Civic Type R. The engine will probably be the 2.2L CTDi from the Accord and Honda engineers plan to give it around 180hp and peak torque of about 430 Nm.

Honda’s top engineer, Kenichi Nagahiro told Autocar: “As long as it is in keeping with the Type-R brand we will do it [..] But high revving has to be part of it and that’s what we’re working on.”
Read More: "Honda Civic Type R will be available with diesel engine"

On September 14th, at 09:00 am the Honda Civic Mugen RR went on sale in Japan. And, well, at 09:10, all 300 reservations were taken. And of course, more reservations were taken, just in case someone changes its mind, but one thing is for sure, all 300 cars are sold. The car got an 15 hp more than the Civic Type R and now packs 240 hp. The Mugen RR also got some other modifications, both on the outside and on the inside, but still, what’s with the rush? $40,000 for a Civic? Seems a little too much.

The deliveries will begin in January 2008 and the car costs ¥4,777,500, which is $38,750. View a couple more photos after the jump.
Read More: "All 300 Honda Civic Mugen RR sold in 10 minutes"

Honda made a press release in which announced that they will recall 182,756 Honda Civics, because of some problems at the wheel bearings. “The wheel speed sensor housing uses an O-ring seal to prevent leakage to or from the wheel bearing. If assembled improperly, the O-ring may not seal properly allowing water to enter the wheel bearing and eventually cause damage to the bearing” says the press release.

So what exactly does this mean? Well, this means that you might lose a wheel or two. So hurry and take you Civic back to the dealer or you might face some really embarrassing situations. Read the entire press release after the jump.
Read More: "Honda recalls over 180,000 Civics for wheel bearings problems"