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Five vehicles named Top Safety Pick+ including new Civic, MKZ

In an attempt to help push vehicle safety to a higher level, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created a stricter Top Safety Pick+ rating last year, which incorporates a brutal small overlap test and requires cars to get Good ratings in four out of the five categories (and no less than Acceptable in the fifth). Joining the list of the safest cars of 2013, the 2013 Volvo XC60, Lincoln MKZ, Honda Civic (sedan and coupe) and the 2014 Mazda6 have all received the coveted TSP+ rating.
The Mazda6 and Lincoln MKZ have both been completely redesigned, and both received Acceptable ratings in the small overlap test. The Honda Civic, coming off its emergency refresh for 2013, is the first small car to be subjected to the small overlap test, and IIHS says that one of the car's many upgrades includes a stiffer front structure allowing it to receive Good ratings in all categories. Similarly, the XC60 gets all Good ratings thanks to, according to IIHS, Volvo updating the airbag software allowing the side airbags to inflate during the small overlap test.
The 2014 Subaru Forester has not yet been subjected to the small overlap test, so it must make do with just a Top Safety Pick rating until the IIHS tests small utility vehicles, which is expected to happen later in the spring.

Honda China struggling with high-end Accord because Chinese covet German cars, too

It's not particularly unusual to see cheap cars in China, or those with designs stolen from foreign competitors, but increasingly the best-selling vehicles there would be very recognizable to just about any auto enthusiast. There appears to be one fact of life whether looking at car buyers in Sacramento, Stuttgart or Shanghai: People who can afford to buy premium cars often look first at the Germans.
Honda recently thought that it could challenge this perceived wisdom by including a premium Accord in the ninth-generation sedan's Chinese launch last year. The market-exclusive version was priced against the Audi A4. The venture failed, miserably.
According to Automotive News China, sales for the new Accord in China are down 37 percent through May of this year. Honda's overall sales are actually up by about 11 percent there on the strength of smaller, less profitable models. However, the company is still off its forecast 19-percent rise.

Watch Obama kick the ball around with Honda's latest ASIMO

Bend it like Obama. The Commander-In-Chief was just in Japan for a state visit, and his trip took him to a science expo, where he played a bit of soccer with Honda's latest ASIMO robot. The entire scene was captured on video, and showed the innovative robot as it ran, hopped and kicked a soccer ball to a bemused President Obama.
ASIMO had a number of upgrades ahead of its meeting with the president, which were originally shown off to the crowds at the 2014 New York Auto Show. These tweaks to the 110-pound robot included a number of changes in both its upper and lower body to improve stability, speed and balance. Although not shown in this video, Honda claims the lower-body upgrades allow ASIMO to climb faster and more smoothly than ever before. Its hands are more dexterous and expressive, as well, while new sensors give it an even better sense of touch.
Before ASIMO smoothly and effortlessly jogged across the stage, the robot and the President had a brief chat. According to The Wall Street Journal, Obama later told students at the Miraikan Science Expo in Tokyo that ASIMO and the other robots at the fair "were a little scary. They were too lifelike."