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Honda, Acura recall 450,000 cars for seatbelt issue

Honda is recalling nearly half a million Honda and Acura vehicles to address an issue that can prevent passengers from latching their seatbelts. The campaign covers most of the mainstream brand's popular family cars, including the CR-V, Accord and Odyssey. Per the company's report, normal wear and tear can cause the driver and passenger seatbelt release buttons to bind, preventing the latches from properly engaging.  "The seat belt buckle channel [sic] for the driver and front passenger seat belts were manufactured out of specification, causing interference between the buckle channel and the release button,"  Honda's report to NHTSA said. "With continuous use, the buckle channel surface coating may deteriorate over time, and the release button may shrink against the channel at low temperatures, increasing friction. This can result in issues with the seat belt buckle latching." Here is the full list of cars and model years included in the campaign: 2019-2020 Acura RDX  2018-2019 Honda Accord/Accord Hybrid  2017-2020 Honda CR-V  2019 Honda Insight  2018-2020 Honda Odyssey Honda said that the problem first surfaced back in 2019 and that the company has received more than 300 warranty claims related to the problem. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Owners will have replacement parts installed free of charge. Honda says notices should be distributed to owners starting in April.  Related video: Recalls Acura Honda Ownership Safety

Honda HR-V could spawn Acura variant

We've been saying it for months now, but the compact CUV is the next big thing. Everyone, and we mean everyone, is at least considering getting in on the action, if they aren't already actively designing or selling, and that's true whether they're a premium or mainstream automaker. That, of course, includes Acura, whose parent company, Honda, has a compact CUV of its own coming to market very, very soon. With the arrival of the Fit-based HR-V, that begs the question of whether the near-premium marque will join this burgeoning segment. The idea of building a car below the company's entry level CUV, the RDX, is an appealing one to Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel, who called it "potentially the only place you could go," and would occupy the "white space" the company is looking to fill. While we might chuckle about the idea of a luxurious, Fit-based CUV, it's fair to say it could do well for Acura. It could certainly provide a foil to the very hot selling Buick Encore, and may even capture some sales from the luxuriously outfitted Jeep Renegade Limited/Fiat 500X Lounge. It remains to be seen, though, if Acura could build an HR-V capable of tangling with the new entries from Lexus, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Autoblog Podcast #372

Episode #372 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Chris Paukert are joined by Peter Leung of RichlandF1 to talk Formula One, the impending demise of Bertone, and Honda spinning Acura off into its own division. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #372: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics: Bertone goes bust Mercedes F1 Power Unit Honda spinning off Acura In the Autoblog Garage: 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited 2015 Subaru WRX STI 2014 Land Rover Range Rover Autobiography Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Paukert Guest: Peter Leung Runtime: 01:37:41 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Formula 1 - 26:39 Bertone - 50:42 Acura - 01:02:19 Q&A - 01:14:38 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Design/Style Marketing/Advertising Motorsports Podcasts Acura Honda Jeep Land Rover Subaru