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Honda spinning off Acura as stand-alone division in bid to wake up brand

Every major automaker has a different way of relating between its various divisions and brands. At Volkswagen, for example, the individual brands seem to operate with a large degree of autonomy. Under the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the two units share a common chief executive, but little else. The relationship between Honda and its luxury division Acura has always been rather close, but that's all about to change.
American Honda Motor Company has always handled sales and marketing in the North American market for both the Honda and Acura divisions, but new reorganization plans call for the two units to be separated under their own direction. Leading the Acura division will be Michael Accavitti, who moves into the position from his role as Senior Vice President for Auto Operations at American Honda. The Honda division will meanwhile be taken over by the current head of Acura sales, Jeff Conrad.
Both will report to John Mendel, the current executive vice president of the Automobile Sales Division that is being rebranded as the American Honda Auto Division. Unlike rivals Lexus and Infiniti - two brands that Acura beat to the market - Honda barely markets its luxury brand outside of North America. Its overseas presence is felt only in China, though we've yet to receive word on how the reorganization might effect that market - or for that matter, any potential of expanding into others.

China's largest dealer body pushes back against foreign automakers over huge inventories

Do not think for a second that automakers forcing inventory on dealers in order to pad the numbers is a ruse known only in the US. Stories of individual brands have hinted at the trouble Chinese dealerships are having trying to move units as the country's economic growth remains hot but comes off the boil, like the one revealing that 95 percent of Toyota-FAW showrooms are losing money. Yet Toyota isn't the only culprit, and the issue has become so dire that the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the largest dealer body in the country, has written to the government to complain. Chinese car sales are expected to close out the year with an annualized growth of six-percent, down from last year's 14 percent when targets were set, while in the background the pace of overall economic expansion is the slowest its been since the early nineties. Automakers, shipping cars on schedule to make their earlier targets, have blown up inventories such that they are an average of 1.8 times monthly sales, when the preferred multiplier is from 0.9 to 1.2. According to the CADA, the price wars and necessary incentives mean that only 30 percent of dealers are operating in the black. That number is down a whopping forty percent since 2010. In response, Toyota has already said it will not make its 2014 target of 1.1 million cars sold. We're a long way from 2012, when Toyota planned on selling 1.8 million cars in China in 2015, a target that's now as realistic as a manticore. BMW, Honda and Nissan have erased numbers on their spreadsheets, too; BMW growth dropped from 20 percent to 8 percent midyear after it began "reducing wholesale supplies," and Honda has been reworking its plans as sales have decreased each of the past six months. It's a big deal for Chinese dealers to begin protesting publicly, the CADA saying, "In the past, dealers were angry, but dared not speak out. But now, they have to shout because the situation is getting so unbearable." With six-percent growth forecast for next year and dealers unwilling to remain underwater, The Year of the Sheep coming in 2015 could portend meaning beyond the zodiac. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: AP Photo/Andy Wong BMW Honda Nissan Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers

Honda recalling 100k more vehicles to replace airbag inflators

Additional recalls surrounding Takata's faulty airbag inflators seemed to be at an end, and the major issue was getting all of the affected models promptly repaired. However, Honda is voluntarily expanding its safety recall to include another 100,000-plus vehicles. The automaker is adding 88,549 examples of the 2008 Pilot, 10,868 units of the 2004 Civic and 5,454 vehicles of the 2001 Accord to replace the driver's side front inflator. According to documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Honda found these vehicles through its process of matching Takata part numbers to individual VINs to make sure every potentially affected vehicle was found. Both model years of the Accord and Civic are already included in the campaign, but the 2008 Pilot is new to the list. The company is clear in its announcement that there are no reports of inflator ruptures in the crossover, though. This expansion takes Honda's airbag-related recall total to roughly 5.5 million vehicles in the US. When these airbags rupture, they can spray metal fragments with enough force to injure or even kill people. The automaker also has an advertising campaign to get the word out to owners that having this problem repaired is vital to their safety. Statement by American Honda Regarding Expansion of National Safety Improvement Campaign: Driver's Front Airbag Inflator Supplied by Takata Mar 19, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif. 2008 Pilot and certain 2001 Accord and 2004 Civic vehicles added under new NHTSA campaign number 15V-153 Honda will voluntarily expand its December 2014 national Safety Improvement Campaign (NHTSA No. 14V-351) affecting certain 2001 through 2011 Honda and Acura vehicles in the United States to include 88,549 Pilot vehicles from the 2008 model year, 10,868 specific 2004 Civic vehicles and 5,454 specific 2001 Accord vehicles. While certain 2001 Accord and 2004 Civic vehicles were previously included in 14V-351, no 2008 Pilot models were included before this addition. Honda has not received any claims of airbag inflator rupture in 2008 Pilot models. Since this expansion of the national Safety Improvement Campaign is taking place in a new year, it will be identified separately by the NHTSA as No. 15V-153, but the same repair, replacement of the driver front airbag inflator, free of charge, will apply to these additional vehicles nationwide. With this expansion, a total of approximately 5.5 million vehicles will be covered by 14V-351 and 15V-153 combined.