2004 Honda Odyssey Ex- L Mini Passenger Van 5-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Japan considering offering free hydrogen cars because $30k incentives apparently not enough

There's no such thing as a free lunch. A free hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, though? It may become a possibility in Japan, says Automotive News. We know the Japanese government is being plenty supportive of hydrogen vehicles since it will provide about $20,000 worth of incentives to prospective customers of the $69,000 vehicle. And with local governments like Toyota City's Aichi prefecture supplying another $10,000, out of pocket costs could reach less than $40,000 for the Toyota hydrogen car. We don't know for sure that the 'free' H2 car will happen, but with Toyota starting sales of its first production FCV next spring (potentially named Mirai), it could happen. That would also spell good news for Honda, which will follow up Toyota's effort for its own hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. The case for the free car is still pretty tenuous. Automotive News, citing the Nihon Keizai business publication, reports that the Japanese government has thrown around the idea of subsidizing the vehicles outright to early adopters just to gain some momentum for this kind of zero-emissions vehicles. Heck, the government would even throw in free fuel for good measure. We'll see about that. To see some of the official hydrogen excitement, click here for a video of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe taking a Toyota fuel cell vehicle for a brisk test drive. Featured Gallery Toyota at 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Toyota Government/Legal Green Honda Toyota Hydrogen Cars incentives h2

Honda recalling 405K vehicles over airbag issue

Honda is in hot water due to an airbag glitch that is causing it to recall 405,400 vehicles. According to the campaign, the supplemental restraints might fire for no apparent reason. 342,000 of the affected vehicles are 2003 and 2004 Odyssey minivans, which gels with a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation we reported on in June.
Joining the Odyssey in the recall is the Acura MDX, with 63,400 units covered from the 2003 model year. Unlike the van, though, the MDX's recall covers Japan and Australia, in addition to the US and Canada. Both vehicles are suffering from an airbag control unit that is prone to malfunction when exposed to electrical noise, a condition that can cause the airbags to deploy without warning. Although no crashes have been reported in such scenarios, there have been some injuries typical of airbag deployment - abrasions and such.
Honda will be mailing recall notices to owners near the end of October, asking them to bring their vehicles into the dealership for installation of an electrical noise filter. The repair will take about an hour and be free of charge. Scroll down for the official announcement from Honda.

Honda S660 Concept portends a new kei car for 2015

Apart from a tiny, one-paragraph mention in a press release about the Honda show stand in general, the company hasn't said very much about its completely charming S660 Concept. The model would seem very much to be a look ahead at a possible successor to the Beat kei car for Japanese customers, though we've been told that we shouldn't expect any kind of translation or product for the American market (despite certain key executives wanting more sports cars in the US).
Honda tells us only that the S660 roadster features "advanced styling" and "new initiatives such as Super cockpit interior." We do think that the confines of the S660 look particularly driver-focused, with a carbon fiber steering wheel clad in soft leather, very racy looking vented seats and instruments tilted to keep the pilot constantly informed.
Honda President and CEO, Takanobu Ito, also touched on the S660 in his remarks at the press conference, saying that the model "embodies the freewheeling thinking of young Honda engineers, who want to make a cool car that is unique to Honda." Takanobu also said that the concept will be developed into a production model for 2015, which is great news for Japanese drivers.