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Trump declaration they're a security threat stuns Japanese automakers

TOKYO — Japan's automakers' lobby said on Tuesday it was dismayed by President Donald Trump's declaration that some imported vehicles and parts posed a threat to U.S. national security, as the industry braces for a possible rise in U.S. tariffs. Trump made the unprecedented designation of foreign vehicles on Friday but delayed for up to six months a decision on whether to impose tariffs to allow for more time for trade talks with Japan and the European Union. "We are dismayed to hear a message suggesting that our long-time contributions of investment and employment in the United States are not welcomed," said Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. "As chairman, I am deeply saddened by this decision," Toyoda, president of Toyota, said in a statement. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imported cars made by foreign automakers, a move which automakers have argued would ramp up car prices, curb the global competitiveness of U.S.-made vehicles and limit investment in the country, the world's No. 2 auto market. The United States is a vital market for Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Japanese car makers. Autos and components are among the Asian country's biggest export products. Most of Japan's major automakers operate plants in the United States. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association notes that its automakers build about 4 million vehicles a year in North America, or 75 percent of what it sells here. Many are built for export, helping lessen the U.S. trade deficit Trump is concerned about. Major automakers have announced a slew of investments in the United States since Trump took office in January 2017 and put pressure on the industry to create more U.S. jobs. For its part, Toyota has pledged to invest almost $13 billion in the United States between 2017 and 2021 to boost manufacturing capacity and jobs. This includes $1.6 billion for a vehicle assembly plant in Alabama jointly run with Mazda. Government/Legal Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Nissan Toyota Trump

Honda issues bizarre non-recall on Odyssey over badge placement

Without looking under the hood or at a vehicle history report, one of the easiest way to tell if a car has had body work done is to check the location and placement of the exterior badges. A crooked, misplaced or missing badge can be a telltale sign that there has been some sort of body or paint work. For this reason, Honda is suggesting that some owners of the 2014 Odyssey take their vans into the dealership for a little rebadging.
The topic was brought to light after Consumer Reports received a notice from Honda saying that the "Odyssey" badge on its test vehicle was incorrectly installed at the factory. The badge is supposed to go on the driver's side of the liftgate (as shown above), but the customer vehicles had it placed on the passenger side of the car. Not a huge deal unless an owner is trying to sell the vehicle and the improperly installed badge leads potential owners into believing the vehicle may have been damaged in some way. Here's what Honda said in its letter:
On some 2013 Odyssey vehicles, the Odyssey emblem was incorrectly installed on the passenger's side of the rear tailgate. The emblem should be installed on the drivers' side of the rear tailgate. American Honda Motor Company highly recommends that you participate in this Product Update. The placement of the emblem may indicate that the vehicle has had repairs performed that are consistent with it being in a crash. This could affect the resale value of the vehicle.

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.