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Honda Accord under investigation due to airbag failures

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation into the possibility of airbags not deploying in the 2008 Honda Accord. The agency has received 19 reports, including one injury, of the airbag control module failing, and the part is on an estimated 384,000 of the vehicles in the US. "For vehicles with a failed SRS module, some or all of the airbags may be unavailable in a crash warranting deployment," NHTSA's investigation says. Drivers are warned when the part stops working by a light on the instrument panel, but several of these reports indicate the module is unable to show diagnostic trouble codes when being inspected. The only way to fix the issue is to replace the whole component, and the Detroit News reports that can cost $500 or more. NHTSA's preliminary evaluations investigate "the scope, frequency, and consequence" of a problem and don't necessarily mean a recall is warranted. INVESTIGATION Subject : SRS Module Failure Date Investigation Opened: AUG 18, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: PE15029 Component(s): AIR BAGS All Products Associated with this Investigation close Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) HONDA ACCORD 2008 Details Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) SUMMARY: ODI has identified 19 VOQ reports alleging failure of the air bag SRS control module. One of the reports involved a frontal crash event where the frontal air bags did not deploy. The crash resulted in an injury to the driver and lone occupant, and the vehicle was subsequently inspected by the agency. According to the reports, the failure of the SRS module is indicated by the air bag readiness indicator lamp illuminating on the instrument panel. Consumers report the SRS control module had to be replaced to correct the condition. Several reports indicated that the SRS module was unable to communicate thus preventing diagnostic trouble codes from being retrieved. An inability of the SRS unit to communicate raises concern about the readiness of the entire supplemental restraints system. As a result, for vehicles with a failed SRS module, some or all of the air bags may be unavailable in a crash warranting deployment. ODI is opening this investigation to further evaluate the scope, frequency, and consequence of the alleged SRS module failures.

No S660 for US, but Honda wants sporty cars

Honda, best known lately for being a mainstream player rather than the brand that brought us the CRX Si, NSX, Integra Type-R, and S2000, apparently wants to builds sporty cars for the US again. With that in mind (or not), Honda has ruled out bringing the tiny, sporty S660 roadster across the Pacific. "I wouldn't put my chips on [the S660]," American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel told Automotive News. At nearly 11.1 feet long, the S660 slots in between the 12.8-foot Mazda MX-5 Miata and the 8.8-foot Smart ForTwo. Yet Mendel says the tiny two-seater wouldn't work here. "When the practicalities of the market come in, and the car only so big, that might not be the best car for the US market," Mendel said. "It might be better for India or China or somewhere else." Honda is considering its options here in the US, though. As AN reports, after his takeover earlier this year, new CEO Takahiro Hachigo promised more sporting models, like the new, US-bound, 300-horsepower Civic Type R. And while it's no secret that Honda has filed patent drawings for a mid-engine model, Mendel offered little to indicate that it'd become a reality. Calling the project from Honda's Silicon Valley research and design facility a "design study," Mendel wouldn't answer AN when it asked whether this new model was successor to the S2000 or a more attainable, lower-powered NSX. He did, however, say his company was getting pressure from dealers over the lack of verve in the company's lineup. "They want anything in the sports car world," Mendel told AN. "They're going, 'Gimme a sports car.' They want a retractable hardtop; they want a high-horsepower $20,000 sports car. Because that's the nature of what they do." There you are, Honda. Your dealers want it, which means your consumers are probably are asking for it, and your CEO wants it, too. Make something happen.

A look inside Honda’s “Safety For Everyone” research and development operation

RAYMOND, Ohio—As part of its long-running “Safety for Everyone” campaign, Honda has established the audacious goal of what it calls a “zero-collision society.” But rather than making big claims about developing a fully-autonomous vehicle, which Honda hasnÂ’t done, the company is trying to chip away at the more than 37,000 vehicle-related fatalities that occurred in the U.S. in 2017 with a multi-pronged approach. Here in central Ohio, engineers are working with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to boost active safety systems like its HondaSensing suite of safety technology with old fashioned passive systems like structural steel frames or new airbag designs that protect passengers in a crash. Honda provided members of the press with a rare tour inside its Honda R&D Americas headquarters this week. Honda officials say that increasingly, safety — and specifically, third-party ratings from the likes of the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — figure into the top three factors consumers weigh when purchasing a vehicle. Honda and Acura have 10, 2019 models that have earned IIHSÂ’s Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ ratings, and all 15, 2019 model-year Honda and Acura vehicles that have undergone NHTSA crash testing have earned a 5-star overall rating. And Honda prides itself on its growing list of safety firsts, including the first upward-deploying front passenger airbag, in 1990 in the Acura Legend; first omni-directional crash-test facility, in 2000; and the first autonomous braking system, in the 2006 Acura RL. It hopes its new three-chamber airbag goes industry-wide and joins that list. “ItÂ’s part of our companyÂ’s culture,” said Art St. Cyr, business head unit and vice president of auto operations for American Honda Motor Co. “We have a philosophy at Honda that we want to be a company that society wants to exist. That means we have to protect our customers. ThatÂ’s part of the whole mantra of doing this.” Opened in 1984, the 1.6 million square-foot Honda R&D Americas facility, located in the countryside about 45 miles northwest of Columbus, employs around 1,600 people and is HondaÂ’s largest research-and-development facility outside of Japan. Its Advanced Safety Research facility opened in 2003.