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KBB 2013 Brand Image Awards has some obvious and oddball winners

The sixth edition of the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards have crowned a wide range of winners - in a couple of cases the recipient of the laurels might say more about KBB users than they do about the actual winner. Compiled from the responses of more than 12,000 shoppers on KBB.com over the past year, there are 13 categories broken into non-luxury, luxury and truck segments "representing the combined wisdom of the American car-buying public."
The award categories have been revamped this year, with some dropping off, some new ones appearing and at least one other given a new term. What isn't surprising is that Honda won Most Trusted Brand for the second year running, Best Value Brand for the third year in a row and took Best Overall Brand, which wasn't on last year's list of awards.
On our own shores, in the non-luxury categories Chrysler got Most Refined Brand and Buick took Best Value Luxury Brand. Neither one of those marques won anything in last year's Brand Image Awards, while Cadillac, which won Best Interior Design Brand and Best Comfort Brand last year - those awards disappeared this year - went home without a single accolade.

Ford announces four recalls, 1.4M vehicles affected

Ford is taking a bit of the spotlight away from General Motors, announcing a major group of recall campaigns, covering a total of 1.4 million vehicles built between 2006 and 2013.
Let's start with the big one, which covers the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and, according to The Detroit News, Ford-built Mazda Tribute CUVs. 915,216 vehicles are covered, all of which were built in model years 2008 to 2011. 736,000 vehicles are in the US, while Canada then Mexico make up the vast majority of the remainder. The problem is due to an issue with the torque sensor in the steering column, which could lead to sudden power steering failure. Manual steering would still be available, though.
"Dealers will perform one of three service fixes, depending upon what diagnostic codes are shown when the vehicle is taken to the dealer," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker wrote to Autoblog in an email. "They will either update software for the power steering control module and the instrument cluster module; replace the torque sensor; or replace the steering column, which includes upgraded power steering control module software."

FBI Seizes Computers, Listening Devices From Ford Headquarters

FBI agents searched Ford Motor Company's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, this month as part of an investigation into possible corporate espionage. Eight devices, along with documents, computers and financial records, were among the items seized by federal agents on July 11, according to documents obtained by The Detroit News. The FBI searched Leach's home on June 20 and seized more than two dozen items in that search, Reuters reported. Former engineer Sharon Leach, a 17-year Ford veteran of company, was fired last month, according to The News, which first reported the story. She admitted to placing recording devices under conference tables before meetings. She told Ford security she used the recordings to assist in her meeting notes. She couldn't remove the devices after meetings without drawing attention to herself, leaving the devices to record other meetings. Leach has not been charged for any wrongdoing. Former federal prosecutor and Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning told The News that using a search warrant, rather than a subpoena, shows the FBI suspects more employees could be implicated. "If it's an economic espionage case or trade-secrets case, that rarely involves one individual," Henning told The Detroit News. "So the concern is if you send a subpoena and ask for recording devices, those things can be erased." Leach, Ford and the FBI declined to comment on the investigation. Related Gallery AOL Autos Test Drive: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST Auto News Ford espionage corporate