2012 Honda Accord Ex-l Sedan 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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2014 Honda Accord V6 Touring

America's midsize sedan segment is one of the most crowded and fiercely competitive in the business. The Toyota Camry has long been our nation's best seller, while the Honda Accord has dutifully come in second place, like some sort of codependent Cal Naughton Jr. riding Ricky Bobby's back bumper.
There was that one year, 2001, when the Accord briefly broke the Camry's streak, marring what would today have been a 17-year-long run of best-selling car titles. The Accord pulled the opposite move in 2011, letting sales slip far enough to let not only the Toyota by, but the Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion, as well. Aside from those anomalies, the Camry and Accord have been first and second in this segment since before many of you readers could even drive.
It's 2014, and these frenemies have never before faced a threat to their world order as strong as today's class of family sedans. The aforementioned Altima and Fusion are perhaps the most capable challengers, but the Chevrolet Malibu, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Volkswagen Passat and Mazda6 are all capable of convincing new buyers to walk their way.

Honda names first woman, foreigner to its board of directors

General Motors may have made headlines when it recently appointed the industry's first female CEO, but Honda has long lagged woefully behind the times when it comes to the diversity of its top management. In fact, its entire board has until now been composed entirely of Japanese men, with not a foreigner or a woman in sight. But as Reuters reports, that's all changing with the nominations to its latest board.
The slate of new directors named to Honda's board includes one Hideko Kunii, a gender-equality advocate and engineering professor from the Shibaura Institute of Technology. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Kunii spent the bulk of her career at Japanese electronic imaging company Ricoh. Alongside Kunii, Honda has also named Tomoko Mizoguchi to the board as responsible for the company's South American operations, making him the first foreigner to serve on the company's board of directors. (Well, almost: Mizoguchi was born in Brazil, but of Japanese ancestry.)
The appointments follow the recent switch Honda made in its official language policy from Japanese to English, signaling a shift in outlook for a company that has long stuck to traditional Japanese business models. Honda was the first of the major Japanese automakers to begin manufacturing in the United States, and has long relied on hiring local managers to run its regional operations around the world. It has, however, resisted placing foreigners on its board of directors until now, relying instead on senior male managers promoted from within its ranks to serve on its board. This in comparison to Toyota, which has seven foreigners and one woman on its 68-member board of directors, and Nissan, which has fifteen foreigners (including its chief executive) and one woman on its 58-member board.

Honda recalling 1,400 units of 2016 Pilot to adjust seatbelts

Just as the new model starts arriving at dealers, Honda is already recalling the 2016 Pilot in order to adjust the third-row seatbelt positioning in some of them. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports this campaign covers 1,358 vehicles. However, Honda asserts that only a tiny number of owners actually need to bring their crossover into their dealerships for repair. Honda discovered during quality checks at the factory that the third-row seatbelt could be trapped between the seat and the side of the vehicle. This could pose a safety issue to passengers back there. The affected examples have build dates between May 4, 2015, and June 5, 2015. Because the 2016 Pilots were just launching when this problem was discovered most of them were still at the factory, in transit, or at dealers. According to Honda, only 269 of the affected examples actually made it to owners. The automaker got in contact with these customers to reposition the seatbelt. There are still 20 left that need to be checked, and this issue isn't responsible for any reported crashes or injuries. RECALL Subject : Rear Seatbelt May Be Trapped Report Receipt Date: JUL 06, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V424000 Component(s): SEAT BELTS Potential Number of Units Affected: 1,358 All Products Associated with this Recall Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) HONDA PILOT 2016 Details Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) SUMMARY: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Honda Pilot vehicles manufactured May 4, 2015, to June 5, 2015. Due to an assembly issue, the third row seatbelt may be trapped between the rear seat and the rear sideliner. CONSEQUENCE: If the third row seatbelt is trapped, the occupants may not be restrained properly, increasing the risk of injury. REMEDY: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and repair the rear third row seat belt, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on August 6, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-310-783-2000. Honda's number for this recall is JS7. NOTES: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.