Honda, the Japanese automaker, is known for its innovative tricks to promote their cars in the market. In a recent stint, for the new Honda Pilot, RPA launched an advertising campaign. Promoting the car as ‘ready for anything’, RPA kick-started the campaign with two broadcast spots. Although it’s quite common for automobile companies to take services from the advertising agencies to create a buzz about their respective products in the market, Honda, as always is going for something out of the box, just as their products. By taking the services from one world’s leading advertising agency, Rubin Postaer and associates (RPA), Honda is looking forward to create enough curiosity about the 2016 Honda Pilot among the consumers ahead of its official launch in 2016.

Dealing with two different spot for the campaign the company is looking to promote the car in a big way. As for the first spot, a 30 second one will be demonstrating vehicle’s primary features and specs, with exceptional use of computer generated images (CGI) and practical shots. Titled ‘The Incredible Pilot Elite’, it will be presenting the video as ‘a demonstration in adaptability’, it is expected to effectively introduce the vehicle in a big yet simple way.

For the other spot, a premier Hollywood director, Jason Reitman, who previously directed some acclaimed motion pictures such as ‘Juno’ and ‘Up in the air’ was hired to effectively execute the video campaign. The second spot, directed by Jason Reitman will be 60 seconds long and will be presented as a full blown television commercial. The opening sequence begins with a very happy and cheerful looking family, a father, mother and children; with father on the steering wheel, on some kind of road trip. They all seem quite happy while one of the children starts to sing some lines from a classic and very popular Weezer song “Buddy Holly”. A few seconds later the whole family joins in and starts singing loudly ignoring the passer byes. Singing goes on in full swing while the passengers in a passerby car looks at them and laughs just after the time when the family gets to the particular line that somehow is the core message behind the whole 60 seconds of it. They don’t really care what everybody else thinks of them anyway so why would they stop singing and having fun. It is quite charming and adorable to watch and features some very good actors playing the family. However, it is serving as a two edged sword as it extensively shows off car’s interior spaciousness while at the same time trying to get the song stucked in the head of the watchers for a very long time. Other companies are expected to follow the Honda way in terms of promotions in case the campaign becomes successful.

Featuring on cable, early morning and late night it is also expected to run during the National Football League, ESPN NCAA football and ESPN/ABC NBA tournaments in winters. Digital partnerships will allow them to be played on YouTube, yahoo and other online video streaming websites.

Honda Motors America has recalled many of the 1700 SUVs from the 2016 Honda Pilot lineup in order to probe into an issue regarding the third-row seatbelts. The seatbelts positioning has been reported to be faulty as they are frequently getting stuck in between the back seat and sideliner.

After a thorough analysis, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has concluded that the trapping of the seatbelts will result in more frequent minor accidents and make the backseat occupants susceptible to a greater risk of injury during major accidents.

On June 20, 2015, an order was issued against the further sale of the 2016 Honda Pilot on the basis of the evidences filed with the Federal Safety Regulations. The vehicles with the faulty seatbelts have been marked to be manufactured within the time span of May 4^th and June 5^th. The official date for the beginning of the recalls is August 6^th.

Honda claims that all but only 20 vehicles have been recalled already. The manufacturer also claims that only 269 Honda Pilot SUVs had been delivered to owners and that the dealers were equipped with the repairing procedures. Honda will mail and notify any remaining owner within the next two months and get the issue fixed.

The correctional task will be simple and not too hard on the Company either because it needs no parts or intricate procedures. The repair job will be quick and won’t affect the finances of the Company. A simple service appointment with the respective dealers is all an owner needs to get rid of this problem. All the seatbelts need is a strategic repositioning.

The early notification to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has helped the Company contact the owners concerned and scheduled an inspection without delay or confusion. Thanks to the prompt action taken by the Company, there has been no reported case of accidents due to the flaw. The vehicles lined for shipment from the factory will get a preventive inspection and any damage found will be repaired before the sale.

The third-row seating and individual seatbelts for each occupant is indeed an USP of the 2016 Pilot. Owners and potential buyers are not being impatient with the issue as the car is a really good SUV once this seatbelt issue has been addressed.

For the duration of the assemblage of the third row seatbelt, the position of the seatbelt was not tested with a real life passenger and hence, the problem. However, since there is no need of replacement of the seatbelts or any other parts, the Company has readily announced the recall without consuming any time for preparation. Each of the vehicles that are found to be flawed will be repaired free of cost as the fault lied with the manufacturer.

The American franchise of the Japanese carmaker is encouraging the said 20 owners to get the repositioning done soon in order to avoid fateful accidents. The various sources to contact the authorities for a repositioning include, contacting the dealers for the repair, registering on www.recall.honda.com or simply by calling 800 999 1009.

Honda has unveiled its new car at the Chicago Auto Show and has aptly named it the 2016 Honda Pilot. Honda has gone all out with their new model and has offered 17 variants of the car ad all will be readily available to the public. The pricing starts from the modest USD 30875 to the opulent USD 47300. Each car has its own sets of upgrades and unique features that make it a car that you should definitely want to own.

The first variant is called the Honda Pilot LX and is priced at USD 30875. This car has a 280 bhp v-6 engine with a six-speed automatic transmission.  This car has LED brake lights, 18’ wheels, keyless entry, air conditioning, cruise control, front and rear power windows, a 200 watt audio system with 7 speakers and, AUX input jack and USB port on the centre console for all your entertainment needs. The usual Bluetooth connectivity with a 12 v charging port all on the centre console have also been placed in the car for your convenience.

The second variant is the Honda Pilot EX and is priced around USD 33310. This car has all the same engine specifications as the LX and adds a tri-zone automatic climate control, remote engine start, an undated 225-watt audio system with 10 speakers and a 8’’ touch screen infotainment display. This variant also has an intelligent Traction exterior temperature management system for the different types of terrain that you might encounter.

The third variant is the Honda Pilot EX Sensing and is priced around USD 34310. This car also has the above mentioned specifications with a few more added upgrades such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, collision warning system and lane departure system which all help you to drive better on the road and avoid possibly life threatening accidents.

The fourth variant is the Honda Pilot EX-L and is priced around USD 36785. This car has all the features that are included in the EX with a few additional features like power sunroof, power liftgate, and a leather wrapped steering wheel to give it an updated look and differentiate it from the other variants.

The next variant is the Honda Pilot EX-L Sensing and is priced at USD 37785. This variant has all the features that are included in the EX-L along with adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, forward collision warning and other such features that are included in the EX Sensing.  This makes it a luxury car with a number of safety features.

The last and most opulent variant is called the Honda Pilot Elite and is priced around USD 47300. This car has a nine-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters for changing gears, 20’’ wheels, a Honda Sensing package, rear seat entertainment package, navigation, chrome door handles, parking sensors, a 540-watt audio system with 10 speakers. This variant has an all wheel drive, intelligent traction management system, rain sensing wipers, a panoramic roof, LED headlamps and LED map lights.

This car has some of the best technology put into it so as to make it one of the best cars to come out of Honda’s production line.