2014 Honda Accord Ex-l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda working with new supplier Autoliv for Takata inflator recall

Takata is fighting against US regulators over whether to expand its airbag inflator recall nationwide, but the affected automakers are continuing to broaden their own campaigns to get these vehicles fixed. Honda is the first company to take the bold move of partnering with another supplier for its replacement parts. It just announced plans to work with Autoliv to create components for models needing repaired in the US. "The agreement is made in order to meet the expanded supply of inflators needed by Honda and is subject to definitive documentation," Autoliv said in a statement. The company plans to add the extra capacity for these replacement parts at its existing factories, and deliveries are expected to begin in six months. The decision to switch suppliers was quite surprising because the choice was largely considered impractical previously. Automakers believed that changing manufacturers could take as long as a year or more to implement. However, Autoliv apparently found a way to accelerate that. According to Reuters, Honda said at a hearing in the House of Representatives on December 3 (pictured above) that it was in talks with Autoliv and another supplier called Daicel about building more inflators. The extra parts are sure to come in handy for Honda, as it is now officially expanding its driver side inflator recall nationwide. Although, that that option was already available to any concerned drivers who asked for the remedy. Even with added capacity, Takata had estimated it would take two years to manufacturer enough replacements to fix all of the affected vehicles from all of the automakers. Scroll down to read Autoliv's statement on its new role. Autoliv to supply replacement airbag inflators to be used by Honda (Stockholm, December 3, 2014) – – – Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE: ALV, and SSE: ALIV sdb), the worldwide leader in automotive safety, will supply replacement airbag inflators to be used by Honda Motor Company in support of the ongoing field action initiatives in the United States. The agreement is made in order to meet the expanded supply of inflators needed by Honda and is subject to definitive documentation. In order to be able to meet increased demand, Autoliv will build additional inflator capacity in its existing manufacturing facilities. Deliveries are estimated to commence after a period of about six months from today.

Honda Civic Type R Concept to hatch in Geneva

As if the Geneva Motor Show isn't exciting enough, now we have word that a new version of a certain iconic Japanese hot hatch will make an appearance there in a few weeks time. Honda has announced that its Civic Type R Concept will be revealed during the show's media days, which take place March 4 and 5.
Since this is Honda we're talking about, we should point out that the "Concept" part of the Civic Type R's name is usually a bit of a misnomer. For the past few years, the Japanese automaker has made a habit of attaching "Concept" to the end of several near-production models in the name of drumming up auto show excitement (see Exhibits A, B, C, D and E). So really, this is almost certainly the next Civic Type R, a car we've kind of already driven.
The latter car was a "development" model, but we aren't expecting a lot to change between it and the production model. As previously reported, a 2.0-liter, turbocharged engine should deliver north of 280 horsepower to the front wheels via a six-speed gearbox. Have a look up top at the sole image of the hot Civic released by Honda, and then scroll down for the official press release.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.