2013 Honda Accord on 2040-cars

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2017 Honda Civic Coupe spotted for the first time

Rumors about the next-generation Honda Civic have been coming fast and furious in recent weeks. The speculation suggests the future model will use a new 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and some European body styles will come across the Atlantic. There's even the potential for an overhaul of the CR-Z on the same platform. Now, we've got a glimpse at what the next Civic looks like in coupe and sedan form. Our spies believe that under all that black diaper is the 2017 Civic Coupe, but it's hard to discern any details. With an open section on top it's even difficult to get a good idea of the roofline, though some of the photos suggest a fastback-style rear. The examples concealed in white are believed to be the future Civic Sedan, and one of them is exposed enough to get a good idea of its shape. In profile the look is reminiscent of the current Accord, which is good, if conservative. Seeing the two versions together provides few hints about the coupe's styling, other than a shared wheelbase between both cars. The apparent door handle cutout on the driver's side of the coupe is likely a camouflage trick to hide any information about the length or shape of the doors. One recent rumor suggests that the next-gen Civic's styling could be fully unveiled towards the end of 2015. Until then, click through the gallery of spy shots, and let us know in Comments what you think of this design direction. Related Video:

Honda Fit loses Recommended rating from Consumer Reports

Thanks to its poor performance in the most recent round of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash testing, where it received the lowest overall score in the small-overlap test, Consumer Reports has bumped the Honda Fit from its "Recommended" list. When a car gets bumped from the magazine's coveted ranks, it's usually cause for concern. This is not one of those times.
As there is a new Fit barreling towards dealerships for an on-sale date this spring, we wouldn't pay too much credence to the current car's demotion. It's expected that the next-generation Fit should pass the test with flying colors, as CR is quick to point out that newer Hondas have traditionally done very well in the tricky small-overlap crash testing.
Of the subcompact cars tested by the IIHS, only the Kia Rio, which netted a "Marginal" score overall, is a Consumer Reports "Recommended" vehicle.

Five automakers now being investigated by NHTSA for airbag woes

It appears that Toyota's renotification to owners of recalled vehicles from last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what could potentially be a much larger industry-wide recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation investigation into roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and parts supplier Takata regarding faulty airbag inflators in several models.
NHTSA has received six reports - three directly, two from Takata and one from Toyota - of vehicles with ruptured airbag inflators from 2002-2006, which resulted in three injuries. So far, all six incidents have occurred in high humidity areas like Florida and Puerto Rico. According to Toyota's latest recall announcement, the inflators may have an improper propellant that could cause it to rupture in a crash and the bag to deploy abnormally.
This new investigation follows a previous recall from April 2013 of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the airbag inflators from Takata. As Autoblog reported, Toyota jumpstarted the new situation when it found that the original list of serial numbers for the faulty part was incomplete and discovered more cars in need of replacement. Honda and Nissan told us that they were investigating whether further models would need called in again as well. Mazda told Autoblog: "Regarding the current Takata situation, we're working closely with NHTSA and investigating the situation, but nothing else to report at this time." Chrysler Group responded to us with the statement: "Chrysler Group engineers are conducting the appropriate analysis. The Company will cooperate fully with the National Highway Traffic Administration."