Honda rocks

It was only a matter of time before savvy auto makers would figure this one out.

A recent pet boom in Japan  --  where people now have more dogs and cats than they do children under 15 -- Honda figured out there was money to be made.

So they launched a pet-friendly "Honda Dog" Web site (downside: It's in Japanese). Japan's No. 2 automaker also is configuring the dimensions of car cargo spaces to accommodate crates and providing more pet hair-resistant seat fabrics.

Way back in 2005 Honda has come up the W.O.W. concept car designed especially for dogs, with detachable, easy-to-clean seats, wooden floors and a netted, built-in pup crate in the dashboard. Tokio Isono, a chief engineer of Honda's cars, said the company's new Freed minivan, launched in Japan on May 22, is a perfect example of Honda's new dog-conscious mindset. From a Reuters story:

(The Freed) has the lowest floor yet among Honda's minivans ... "It's low enough even for my dog, May," Isono said, commanding his short-legged, three-year-old corgi to jump in juring a demonstration for reporters.

See the video on Yahoo.news.

And there's another Web site, www.dogcars.com, that gives "paw" ratings and reviews for pet pleasing cars such as those made with special backseat restraints.

The Web site's 2007 Car of the Year? The Honda Element.