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Takata airbag victim looked like she had been stabbed

We generally take certain principals for granted. The more water you drink, for example, the healthier you'll be. The more time you spend reading car news on Autoblog, the better informed you'll be. And the more airbags your car has, the safer you'll be. Because airbags equal safety. But that's not what some unfortunate drivers of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags are finding, and tragically finding out the hard way.
In what could be the most startling incident resulting from the airbag debacle so far, a woman named Hien Tran of Orlando, FL, was killed by what looked at first like stab wounds on her neck. It later emerged that the fatal injuries could have been inflicted by the faulty airbag on her Honda Accord. Tran bought her Honda secondhand, and may not have been aware that the airbag issue had not been addressed by its previous owner in a previous recall in 2009.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department is investigating the death, but it wouldn't be the only injury resulting from the malfunctioning Takata airbags. The units, employed particularly by Japanese automakers like Honda (which owns part of Takata) and Toyota, are the subject of a massive recall involving some 14 million vehicles from 11 different automakers.

Honda tweaks ad after catching ire from Detroit protesters [w/video]

Honda has released a revised version of its youth-focused Today is Pretty Great commercial because the original used footage of Detroit bankruptcy protesters in front of the Theodore Levin US Courthouse. The protesters felt that Honda was making fun of their plight. The new version cuts out the protestors and replaces them with a close-up of a bankruptcy court sign. Honda says that it never intended to tie the ad to Detroit and made the change to avoid that appearance.
"The slight change we made to the commercial simply reflects our desire to remove anything that would get in the way our uplifting message," said Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade in a statement to The Detroit News.
Honda's footage of the protestors lasted about one second in the original ad. It blurred the protestors' faces, and the name of the courthouse was not visible. The company said that the footage was meant to represent any courthouse in the US. Both versions have about five seconds of negative imagery at the beginning before transitioning to young people saying that there are some great things about today too.

Acura NSX coming to Detroit, the wait is almost over [w/video]

Finally. After spending years rounding three bases in the development of the second coming of the Acura NSX, we can espy home base just beyond the turn of the year. Here is your first teaser image for the profoundly anticipated coupe that will show itself in production form at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. (We've even brightened it up for you, but feel free to see it in high-res, original form, along with a few other teaser shots, here.) What we can see of it looks like the last camouflaged prototype we saw at the 'Ring, save for switching out the prorotype's traditional headlights for Acura's jeweled units. After years of foreplay, well... let's just say we're ready. The coupe, its zirconium e-coat and its twin-turbocharged Sport Hybrid power unit – aimed at Ferrari 458 Italia performance for Audi R8 money – will be uncovered on January 12, 2015 at 11:50 AM Eastern time, and you can watch it as it happens at www.youtube.com/acura. There's a teaser video, below, to whet your appetites. Next month's NSX debut kicks off what John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, calls "The Year of Honda." Speaking to members of the media at an event in Detroit Tuesday, Mendel said that following the NSX, Honda will debut a new version of the Pilot SUV in 2015, as well as a redesigned Ridgeline pickup. Mendel also confirmed that Honda will launch small-displacement, turbocharged engines for use in production vehicles. As for Acura, the company's luxury division will offer the new ILX this year, and Mendel hinted that the RDX and MDX crossovers will get a few updates to make them more competitive within their respective segments. It sounds like a busy year, for sure. And we're ready and waiting (we've been waiting...) for the NSX to kick it all off. Head below to read the official confirmation statement, and to see a teaser video. Acura NSX Production Model to Make World Debut at 2015 North American International Auto Show TORRANCE, Calif., December 17, 2014 – The production version of the highly anticipated Acura NSX supercar, successor to the legendary original NSX, will make its world debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show on January 12, 2015. The model will reflect the production design and specifications of the mid-engine Acura supercar that is slated to launch in 2015.