2012 Honda Accord Sdn on 2040-cars

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Honda exec says US market near capacity, could hurt subprime buyers

Is there a point in the US auto industry where companies should start considering the welfare of their customers ahead of selling more cars? American Honda Executive Vice President of Sales John Mendel thinks that level exists, and we may be getting very close to it.
According to Automotive News, Mendel believes that finding more customers in the market could require pursuing subprime buyers and offering longer-term loans. However, he refuses to use those tactics. While selling models this way can improve things briefly, the strategies hurt resale prices and lower vehicle profits over time. The company won't do "stupid things in the short-term that damage the person who bought yesterday," he said to Automotive News. "It's a very, very short-term tactic especially in the subprime area."
American Honda, which combines the Acura and Honda brands, has seen market share decline from 9.7 percent to 9.1 percent through July 2014, according to Automotive News, and Autoblog's By the Numbers stats showed it posted falling sales in five of the seven months with data this year. Though, Mendel claims that was partially because the company focused on retail sales over fleets. The delays of the launches for the Honda Fit and Acura TLX likely didn't help either.

Texas teen is 10th Takata airbag victim

A 17-year-old high school senior from Richmond, Texas, died in a 2002 Honda Civic on March 31 after the Takata-supplied airbag inflator ruptured. This is the 10th fatality linked to the faulty parts in the US. Honda and US regulators confirmed that the airbag exploded, according to Reuters. The fatal incident occurred when the Civic's driver rear-ended a Honda CR-V. The teen was wearing a seatbelt and wasn't speeding. "Everybody should have walked away from this," Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy Danny Beckwith told Reuters. However, a piece of shrapnel from the inflator cut the driver's carotid artery, and the person died. With this latest fatality, there have been 10 deaths and over 100 injuries in the US from exploding airbag inflators. Nine of the deaths have happened in Honda vehicles. The other was in a Ford Ranger pickup. Investigators at the Independent Testing Coalition placed the cause of the explosions on a combination of the inflator's chemical, design, and the weather. The ammonium nitrate propellant can explode with additional force when exposed to moisture, like in high humidity areas. The part's construction is also part of the problem because it allows this humidity to access the chemical. Takata has recalled roughly 24 million airbags in 19 million vehicles in the US. The latest tally from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that as of March 11, 2016, about 7.5 million inflators have been replaced. All the parts with ammonium nitrate inflators may need replacing someday, which could affect 100 million vehicles. Related Video: Statement from Honda Concerning Confirmed Texas Rupture Statement from American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Re: Confirmed Rupture of Takata Airbag Inflator in Fort Bend County, Texas Statement date: April 6, 2016 During an inspection today, accompanied by representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Sherriff's Department of Fort Bend County, Texas, and Takata, American Honda confirmed that the Takata driver's airbag inflator ruptured in the crash of a 2002 Honda Civic on March 31, 2016, in Fort Bend County, Texas, resulting in the tragic death of the driver. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family of the driver during this difficult time. Honda has shared all available vehicle history information collected to date with NHTSA and will continue to cooperate with NHTSA throughout the process of investigating this crash.

Junkyard Gem: 1981 Honda Accord LX Hatchback

The first-generation Honda Accord was the kind of sales success that vehicle manufacturers dream of but almost never attain: a car so far superior to its competition that buyers had to shell out big markups and sit on waiting lists if they wanted to take one home. Nothing could touch the value-per-dollar you got with one of these cars back then, and they soldiered on for decade after decade. Most of them are gone now, worn out and thrown away, without much of an enthusiast community to restore them (with notable exceptions, of course). Here's an Amal Blue '81 LX hatchback I spotted in a Denver-area self-service yard last week. This one is pretty well loaded, with air conditioning, automatic transmission, AM/FM mono radio, clock, the works. Under the hood is the 1.8-liter CVCC engine in "49-state" emission-control configuration (California had stricter emissions standards than the rest of the country during this era). The vacuum-hose diagram for this car is a bit complex, but nowhere near as bad as the terrifying nightmare that CVCC owners faced a few years later. 1981 was the last model year in which all Accords sold in the United States were shipped over from Japan. The Voluntary Export Restraint agreement of 1980 resulted in Honda building its Marysville, Ohio, assembly plant, and second-gen Accords were American-made. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Because life isn't always a simple Sunday drive. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In Japan, the CVCC Accord got action-movie music in its ads. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1981 Honda Accord LX View 19 Photos Auto News Honda