Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has announced that it will discontinue production of the S2000 sports car. The production for all regions will conclude by the end of June 2009.
The S2000 made its debut in 1999, as a genuine open FR sports car with what was at the time the world’s top level, high performance 4-cylinder normally aspirated engine and an ideal 50:50 front/rear body weight distribution that provided a “fun to drive” spirit and the “joy of driving”. In addition to dynamic performance, S2000 had environmental responsibility and the world’s top level crash safety represented by an exhaust gas level that was more than 50 percent lower than the emission regulations value at that time and adoption of a newly developed body frame for an open structure that achieved the same level crashworthiness as a closed body vehicle.
The S2000 continued to evolve, with performance improvements including VGS (Variable Gear ratio Steering), change of tire size and increased displacement. As a result, the S2000 achieved total sales of more than 20,000 units in Japan, and total worldwide sales of more than 110,000* units during the nine years it was in production.
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