According to the company, the doors may not shut properly if the inside driver or passenger door handles are engaged at the same time as the power or manual door locks. Furthermore, since the doors are not properly latched, they may pop open when someone uses the locks. The mechanism will be given a once-over by mechanics when the vehicle is brought in for inspection. Should your automobile have any problems, it will be repaired at no cost to you.

The Honda recall follows close behind those made by Ford and Chevy, both of which have experienced some manufacturing issues over the past few months. This, of course, isn’t the sort of thing potential buyers want to hear when they’re on the prowl for a new ride. Whether it’s misaligned carpeting or the potential for sudden engine fires, consumers want don’t want to have to worry about the faultiness of their vehicle after signing all of that paperwork.

Thankfully, Honda says that no crashes, injuries, or deaths have been attributed to the malfunction. Hopefully this won’t change before the problems are addressed.

The new 2013 Handa Fit EV has just been given the world’s best fuel efficiency rating by the Environmental Protection Agency at 118 Miles Per Gallon with an unprecedented consumption rating of 29 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100 miles.

The car is all electric, so the MPG is determined by an EPA methodology that compares the amount of energy used, with the equivalent in gasoline of how much it would take to run the same car.

A years worth of electricity to power the car is estimated to cost $500. Wow. Compare that to the estimate for a conventional automatic gasoline Fit at $1,500. And that’s considered to be a fuel efficient vehicle.

The Fit EV can go 82 miles before a recharge, more than enough to get to and from work for most people. That can be compared to the Ford Focus Electric, which gets 76 miles on a single “tank”, or the Nissan Leaf which caps out at 73 miles. The fit can be charged in three hours on a 240 volt system, putting out as much as 123 horsepower.

It wil be available in California and Oregon this summer, but east coasters will have to wait until next year to try them out.

As someone who has never driven a hybrid or an electric, I must say I am intrigued about the incredibly high fuel efficiency rating. With these high ratings, it is strange that better batteries have not been engineered to last longer and deliver more output.

I’ve also heard the accelerating beyond 30 Mph is incredibly slow and driving at higher speeds reduces battery life quite a bit. Even using the heater or air conditioning can have a tremendous impact. High MPG or no, I think better, longer lasting batteries are going to be the key to getting people excited about electric vehicles.

“Over time, the power steering hose may deteriorate and develop a fluid leak,” the company explained in a statement. “Leaking power steering fluid could lead to loss of power steering assistance or, if it leaks onto a catalytic converter it may result in smoke, or in the worst case, fire.”

According to the carmaker, the recall effects 52,615 automobiles in the U.S. and 4,266 in Canada. Presently, no crashes or injuries have been associated with the defect. Customers who purchased either a 2007 or 2008 model will be notified of the situation via mail around mid-June.

If you’d like to know whether or not your car is one of the vehicles being recalled, you can check things out by visiting recalls.acura.com or www.acura.ca/recalls.

A new study from R.L. Polk is saying that, like in so many other instances, commercials and real life don’t always coincide. The survey on hybrid loyalty shows that most hybrid owners do not buy another one.

The data, coming from car purchases made in 2011, shows that only 35% of hybrid owners who made car purchases last year bought a hybrid again.

However, hybrid owners do tend to remain loyal to the brand they chose. Toyoto tops this list, with 60% of Prius owners buying a Toyota their next time around. In the case of Honda, 51% returned for another Honda, while only 20% bought another hybrid, from any brand. Apparently they liked the fact that it was a Honda, just not the hybrid aspect.

For dealers, it makes since to have a hybrid as part of their line, even though the segment makes up only 2.4 percent of the new car market. While not many hybrids are being sold, they do tend to bring customers back to that brand.

Though gas savings is often cited as a good reason to buy hybrid, there is little evidence that the price of gas, having nearly doubled from 2008 to 2011, has any impact on hybrid loyalty. Not only that, but hybrids do not carry more loyalty in so called “eco-friendly cities” in the United States. Markets like Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, and Seattle show no more loyalty to hybrids than the nation at-large.

“The lineup of alternate drive vehicles and their premium price points just aren’t appealing enough to consumers to give the segment the momentum it once anticipated, especially given the growing strength of fuel economy among compact and midsize competitors,” according to Lacey Plache, Edmunds.com chief economist. “For EVs and PHEVs in particular, certain obstacles — including consumer unease with unfamiliar technology and the lack of an adequate recharging infrastructure — will need to be overcome before sales increase.”

YouGov BrandIndex, a firm that monitors such things, has maintained their studied eyes at how consumer interest has sustained for businesses that released their Super Bowl ads prior to the game and compared that data with businesses that kept their Super Bowl commercials under wraps until the game. The study looked at the ten days following the Super Bowl and gauged consumer interest in businesses from both of the groups.

The analysis found that companies like Honda and Acura, who released commercials a week ahead of the Super Bowl, saw a precipitous decline in consumer interest in the days after the Super Bowl. In fact, consumers appear to have gotten their fill of the two car companies’ commercials leading up to the Super Bowl because interest for both of them peaked during the game and then quickly disappeared afterwards. Among the top companies that were still generating interest after the Super Bowl based on their commercials, both Honda and Acura fell out of the Top 10 brands and bottomed out at 21 and 26, respectively.

Alternately, those companies that didn’t debut commercials until the Super Bowl enjoyed the greatest staying power in the mind of consumers. Doritos, Chevrolet, Bud Light, and Budweiser have maintained a high level of interest with consumers still weeks after the Super Bowl. In fact, Doritos probably did themselves a favor by rejecting that one advertisement that eventually went viral. Nothing like enjoying the best of both worlds.

Below is a table that YouGov put together with the data from their analysis. What say you, readers of the Internet? Of the companies listed in the table that have managed to keep the attention of consumers, any of those businesses’ commercial resonating with you? Let us know in the comments below.

Today, Honda announced that its 2013 Fit EV has been delivered via a demo program to Google, (as well as to Stanford University), and it will be used in GFleet.

Here’s the part of Honda’s announcement that pertains to Google:

The delivery of the Fit EV to Google Inc. was marked by an employee ride and drive. Nearly 100 ‘Googlers’ took the Fit EV for a spin around the Google Mountain View, Calif., campus. Google will now use the Fit EV as a part of its G-Fleet, an employee car-sharing service that features numerous plug-in vehicles. Google’s participation in the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program will involve analysis of vehicle usage including CO2 reduction, energy consumption on a miles/kWh basis and overall energy cost.

“The goal of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program is to better understand the challenges and opportunities associated with the advancement in battery-electric technology,” said Steve Center, VP of the Environmental Business Development Office at American Honda. “Honda has a long history with electric vehicles beginning with the introduction of our first battery-electric car, the EV Plus, nearly 15 years ago. Honda’s experience and the unique feedback that Google, Stanford University and the city of Torrance will provide will be valuable to the future introduction of battery-electric technology.”

Here’s a broader look at GFleet itself:

Google, along with Stanford and the city of Torrance, California are conducting general testing on the Fit EV, to give feedback to Honda for the future introduction of electric vehicles.

I wonder if anyone will tell them that, like some electric cars before it, it kind of looks like a new-age mini van.

It was soon revealed that the teaser clip didn’t actually have anything to do with a sequel, but was simply a teaser for a Super Bowl ad from Honda. We reported that the ad would indeed star Matthew Broderick and involved the recreation of at least a few scenes from the original film.

Well, now it’s here and available to watch in its entirety, via the Honda YouTube channel. Take a look at “Matthew’s Day Off,” which starts with Broderick calling in sick – to his agent.

To celebrate the launch of the all-new 2012 CR-V, Honda brought Ferris Bueller’s Day Off back in a big game commercial. We cast Matthew Broderick as himself, skipping out on a day of acting work and living it up in his all-new CR-V. Relive movie history with Honda’s fresh twist and wonderful homage to this ’80s classic.

Think you’re a true fan of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? We hid over two dozen references to the movie throughout the commercial. Some are obvious, some are VERY subtle. See how many you can find.

How many did you spot? The “life goes by fast” quote? The parade? The scummy valet and his car jump?

I think it’s a pretty good ad, sure to be one of the most-talked about on Super Bowl Sunday. However, there’s already some blowback coming from viewers of the ad. Here are the top-voted comments on Youtube:

Thanks for ruining my childhood dreams, with a crappy SUV.

Very glad I got to post the first comment…I can’t explain how disappointed I am. Don’t know if I’m just an idiot but for some reason I thought the 10 second teaser was a trailer for a Ferris Bueller 2, not a stupid Honda commercial. At this point I just can’t believe Matthew Broderick would allow anyone to use the priceless movie to advertise a car. Wow.

What do you think? Childhood-ruiner or good, nostalgic advert? Let us know in the comments.

This description of the video on YouTube says:

We hate to be such a tease, but on a day like today, we just have to. Stick it out until the Super Bowl, or take a “day off” on Monday and catch the big reveal.

Naturally, this little teaser created a lot of buzz on the internet yesterday, with many wondering if it meant that Ferris Bueller sequel was in the works.

While that may in fact be true, this little clip is simply a teaser for a Super Bowl ad – for Honda. Jalopnik reports that Honda’s ad will recreate many parts of the the classic film, including the famous Ferrari-jumping scene where the two shady valets take Cameron’s dad’s car out for a joyride. But this time, instead of a Ferrari, it will be a Honda CR-V.

Not only will the ad star Matthew Broderick, but it’s also directed by The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips.

I guess, in theory, they could announce some sort of plans for a sequel as part of the Honda Super Bowl ad. Maybe the ad is just a tester for public enthusiasm for a Ferris Bueller reunion. But that’s probably just wishful thinking (or a terrible idea, depending on who you ask).

(Editor’s Note: The study, which found that search advertising was good, was sponsored by Google. And if you’re extra cynical, that’s like AT&T sponsoring research finding that Network Neutrality is bad. But Enquiro’s a reputable firm, so we’ll run with it. – Jason)

Participants were instructed to search for "fuel efficient cars," and then were questions about their research to determine attitudes toward and awareness of Honda. Each group were presented with different search results, some where Honda did not appear in the results, some with only a side sponsored ad listing, some with just a top organic listing, some with just a top sponsored ad listing, and some with both top sponsored and top organic.  

The study found the most powerful results when both a top ad and a top organic listing were present. When later asked to think about fuel efficient cars and list which cars came to mind, 16 percent more of the group that saw both the top sponsored ad and the top organic result associated fuel efficiency with Honda. Further, there was a 42 percentage point gap between Honda and other brands, and a seven percent increase when only a side ad listing present.

When asked which brands they remembered seeing in the search results, the participants were over twice as likely to name Honda when both the top ad and the top organic were present.

Having a top sponsored ad and a top organic result also increased purchased consideration by eight percentage points. Searchers were 16 percentage points less likely to consider purchasing a brand not listed in the search results at all.

This result held true even for branded queries ("Honda fuel efficient cars"). When a top ad listing was added to a top organic listing, searchers were seven percentage points more likely consider a purchase.

Enquiro interprets the results to mean advertisers should purchase both branded and non-branded keywords. Based on eye tracking results, the company also recommends placing branded keywords in the title, the URL, and as close to the start of the description as possible.

The study comes amid increasing concerns over ad-blindness among consumers. Past eye-tracking studies have shown that searchers are increasingly likely to ignore not just advertisements but also actual content in places where they expect advertising to be, namely at the top or the right side of the page.

The whitepaper from the study with charts and graphs can be found at Enquiro’s website.

MySpace TV

The so-called “minisodes” will be shown on MySpace, and this may say more about the social networking site’s primary user base than society in general.  But, to be fair, online video lends itself to showing shorter clips.  And some young people have never even heard of “Fantasy Island,” “Who’s the Boss,” and “The Facts of Life” – you can’t blame them for not wanting to sit through full episodes.

In fact, the classic Sony shows that have been selected for this Minisode Network are an odd fit for MySpace.  Honda’s sponsorship, on the other hand, is intended to promote the Fit, a compact car.  While I’m not a fan of the Fit’s styling, it’s gotten positive reviews (first place out of seven models, according to Car and Driver), and the Fit’s small price tag is well suited to MySpace’s main demographic.

That’s where the commercials come in.  “To mirror the pared-down programming, Honda and its longtime agency, RPA, have agreed to run only eight seconds of commercials with each episode, appearing before the shortened show starts,” reports Stuart Elliott for The New York Times.

Elliott also writes that Honda’s sponsorship is “estimated in six figures,” and “is indicative of the intensifying interest in online video among marketers.”

As for the future of the Minisode Network, Amy Carney, president for advertiser sales at Sony Pictures Television in New York, told Elliott, “After the exclusivity with My Space ends . . . . Sony Pictures Television is looking at sites like aol.com, yahoo .com and youtube.com.”  It appears that these short clips may have a long shelf life.