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Honda tweaks ad after catching ire from Detroit protesters [w/video]

Honda has released a revised version of its youth-focused Today is Pretty Great commercial because the original used footage of Detroit bankruptcy protesters in front of the Theodore Levin US Courthouse. The protesters felt that Honda was making fun of their plight. The new version cuts out the protestors and replaces them with a close-up of a bankruptcy court sign. Honda says that it never intended to tie the ad to Detroit and made the change to avoid that appearance.
"The slight change we made to the commercial simply reflects our desire to remove anything that would get in the way our uplifting message," said Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade in a statement to The Detroit News.
Honda's footage of the protestors lasted about one second in the original ad. It blurred the protestors' faces, and the name of the courthouse was not visible. The company said that the footage was meant to represent any courthouse in the US. Both versions have about five seconds of negative imagery at the beginning before transitioning to young people saying that there are some great things about today too.

Honda introducing all-new EV, PHEV models by 2018

Honda finally showed off its FCV Concept (with our first glimpse of its interior) to a North American audience at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show today, but the big news from the Japanese automaker was that the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will be joined in the market by two new alternative fuel vehicles by 2018. One is an all-new pure battery electric vehicle and the other is an all-new plug-in hybrid. Details on the new vehicles were slimmer than the skinniest hipster jeans in all of Detroit, but the announcement shows that Honda wants to grow its portfolio of alt-fuel powertrains in the not-too-distant future. Honda currently sells the Fit EV and various Accord hybrids, and also showed off the upcoming Acura NSX here in Detroit this week. Ryan Harty, Honda's manager of environmental business development, said that these vehicles are all in service of the upcoming stricter CAFE fuel economy requirements. "Leading up to 2025 [the 54.5 mpg level], in order to meet regulation – not just US but globally – and more to meet our customer's expectations, we think big improvements in ICE engines can meet those," he said. "But also very exciting to all of us at Honda is our upcoming electromobility products. We really are building the foundational blocks to get to where we need to go after 2025." "We want to bring these vehicles to market in significant volume." - Ryan Harty That means vehicles that devour electricity. "Honda is very optimistic about the future of electromobility," Harty said, "not just the hybrids that we've already brought out but how those hybrids and our experience with fuel cell vehicles and battery electric Fit EV and Accord plug-in hybrids is giving us the confidence to launch a brand-new generation of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. This will be a new sales pillar for American Honda. We want to bring these vehicles to market in significant volume." Honda says that it will also use, "further application of two- and three-motor hybrid systems" in the US. The fuel cell concept will arrive as a production version after March 2016. That is when it is scheduled to launch in Japan, with US deliveries happening some time later. In the near-term, though, expect better VTEC turbo engines to power more Honda vehicles while using comparatively less fuel. Honda says it will invest $340 million at the Anna Engine Plant in Ohio to build a new 4-cylinder engine. Down the road, though, its electrons over petroleum.

Takata allegedly hid failed airbag rupture tests in 2000

New evidence suggests Takata engineers knew about the dangers of the supplier's ammonium-nitrate-propelled airbag inflators as early as 2000, but employees hid or even destroyed test results. The allegations came out in a pre-trial hearing in a civil suit from a woman who claims that a forcefully deploying airbag in her 2001 Honda Civic paralyzed her. The pre-trial hearing included an examination of a deposition from Thomas Sheridan, a former Takata airbag engineer, to see if the evidence was admissible for the case, according to the New York Times. Sheridan alleged that Takata created a report for Honda in June 2000 that showed the parts failed, but the supplier hid the testing data. The company also reportedly got rid of the ruptured components so that there was no physical evidence. "But when I went to look for the parts, because some of the parts had come apart, they were no longer available. They had been discarded," he said in the deposition, according to the Times. Takata disputes these allegations, and one of the company's lawyers asserts the inflators in the 2001 Civic are safe. "None of them have ruptured, zero," attorney David M. Bernick told the Times. "We have no evidence, in fact we have evidence to the contrary, that this inflator was defective at the time of the accident." However, Honda has recalls for the driver's side airbag in the 2001-2005 Civic. Previous reports also indicated some Takata employees allegedly knew the inflators were dangerous. For example, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal in 2015 cited internal memos from US employees in 2000 that complained that their counterparts in Japan altered or hid the results of failed validation tests. The New York Times also found evidence of engineers joking about manipulating results. The first Takata inflator recall came on Isuzu models in 2001, and automakers have recalled millions of vehicles around the world since then. Several companies, including Honda, have pledged to stop using Takata's inflators, and he US government fined the supplier $70 million last year. Related Video: