On Monday at the Moving Ahead sustainable transportation conference, Mendel said, “Light trucks seem to be growing pretty spry. We’re very short of inventory on the light-truck side, whether it’s Pilot or Ridgeline or Odyssey or CR-V. That seems to be growing for us and the industry. Demand seems to be stronger than the car side.”

Together, Honda and Acura posted a an April sales gain of 33 percent in American light trucks, as opposed to the same month last year. Total Honda sales increased by 13 percent last month, and there was an similar increase in truck sales over the first four months of this year, as compared to a 12 percent gain across the Honda-Acura company.

Nationwide, light truck sales had an overall increase of 24 percent in April and 15 percent for all of the first four months of the year, while vehicle sales in general improved 20 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

While sales have been increasing, inventories have been falling. As of April first, Honda averaged a 42-day inventory of trucks, down from 47 a month before, and had an average 56-day supply of all vehicles, down from 68 on March 1. Across the USA, light truck inventories stood at 53 days on the first of April, down from 66 on the first of March.

These impressive truck sales and smaller-than-average inventories have allowed Honda to keep consumer incentives small as well. Mendel said that Honda’s policy will continue to be minimal incentives, despite the incentive binge of arch-rival Toyota. Incentives are being offered for specific vehicles, however, like the Civic, which is currently in its fifth generation. But, Mendel said, “We don’t do 0 percent, we don’t do cash back, and that philosophy’s not changing.”

Mendel also said that Honda’s dealers are being cautioned to not overreact while sales improve from last year. He acknowledges that they probably will need to hire more salespeople, but shouldn’t “staff for Saturdays” (when peak shopping occurs).

“We’re saying don’t compare yourself to the last day you felt good, which was last year. Try to compare yourself to where you were in April, May of 2007, 2006, and try to focus on that in terms of, if you’re coming back, where should you be,” Mendel said. “Don’t go silly. It feels good, but don’t lose sight of the fact that we’re not where we were.”

Automotive News reported over the weekend that Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the company that makes BlackBerry phones has agreed to the aquisition of QNX Software Systems from Harman International Industries, Inc. Why are they doing this? It’s to gain access to technology for wireless connections in cars.

The tech that RIM will gain will specifically aid Acura, Audi, and BMW cars with connections to cell phones, navigation systems, and music players. RIM is expanding into new markets, in an attempt to offset slowing sales growth and decreasing prices, as well as the heavy competition from Apple, Inc.’s iPhone and Google’s DROID systems.

RIM has not disclosed the terms of the deal, but the Waterloo, Ontario, Canada-based company expects the deal to close in mid-to-late May. QNX’s current owner, Harman, bought the software company in 2004 for $138 million in cash, and also assumed some debt.

Here are the basics:

- seats five
- 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder for 201 hp
- 30 mpg highway for the automatic (up from 28 mpg)
- 21 mpg city for the automatic (up a whole 1 mpg)
- standard 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic

Here are the “firsts”:

- fully enclosed cross brace roof construction
- better aerodynamics via frame rails under the car (ups gas mileages, lowers emissions, ditto for noise)
- better front crash endurance via advanced compatibility engineering
- a weather information function as part of the optional tech package (includes nav system, voice recognition, and real time traffic data)

Tech standards include Bluetooth, USB ports, and a Homelink remote control system.

Here’s what Honda has to say: “TSX is the first step in the advancement of our sedan lineup. We have more resources than ever before to advance the Acura brand.”

Here’s what we say: More than worthy of a test drive. The TSX goes on sale in April for about $29,000.