WHAT IS HONDA'S VISION REGARDING THE SAFETY STANDARDS OF

AUTOMOBILES?

We firstly had a few questions in our minds among which was that what exactly is Honda’s
vision regarding the safety standards of the automobiles? We learned the answer from Honda’s
website that stated that Honda seeks to create a zero-collision society, so that people could go
anywhere at any time without any fear of any risk. Moreover, if we compare Honda’s vision with
the other automobile manufacturers, then we can say that the distinction of Honda’s vision from
the vision of the other manufacturers is highly evident.
Honda Global | Safety

Following is the information that we gathered from different articles regarding Honda’s strengths
and weaknesses:

STRENGTHS:

WHAT MAKES HONDA SO UNIQUE AND DISTINGUISHABLE IN TERMS OF ITS

VISION FROM THE OTHER MANUFACTURERS?

The question that was revolving in our minds was that what exactly is so great about Honda
cars? What makes Honda so unique and distinguishable from the other manufacturers in terms of
their vision? We had to find out the answer to this, and mostly focused on the points that are
related to Honda’s safety standards. We extracted the following points from our research:

AWARD WINNERS:

Honda’s models are award-winners; aside from the Honda Insight that won the Top Safety Pick+
award, Honda’s 6 other models have won the Top Safety Pick award. Other awards include Best
Car, Best Utility Vehicle, Best Sedan, Best Small SUV, Best Van etc. When it comes to
reliability, Repair Pal rates Honda’s brand as above average. Honda seems to be the No. 1 brand
among 31 other brands in reliability as the rating from Repair Pal is a 4 out of 5. This rating is
based on not just a single model but different models of Honda and especially the Honda Accord,
that has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.
What’s So Great About Honda Cars?
Aside from that, Honda’s models also achieved top honors in their respective categories such as
a Midsize Car, a Compact Car etc., according to the 2019 Consumer Guide® Automotive Best
Buy Awards. This makes Honda the most awarded brand of the year 2019. Moreover, Honda’s 8
different models have received a 5-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), the Honda Accord being one of them.
Honda Awards | 2019 Awards Won By Honda | Honda in Ann Arbor, MI

NEW AIRBAG FEATURE:

Honda has increased its safety standards by launching a new passenger front airbag feature. It
was designed in such a way to protect the consumers from frontal collisions. According to the
NHTSA, there has been a slight decrease in the number of deaths from road accidents after
Honda launched this feature. Moreover, Honda’s safety standards are further enhanced by its AI
driver-assistance systems such as HondaSensing and AcuraWatch. These features reduce the
possibility of road accidents and assist the drivers with collision alerts and many other features
that contribute to the driver’s safety.
Honda Announces New Passenger Front Airbag Design to Reduce Traffic Injuries and Fatalities
in Wider Variety of Frontal Collisions

WHAT IS HONDA-LINK? HOW DOES IT WORK? DOES IT IMPROVE HONDA

VEHICLE'S SAFETY STANDARDS?

HONDALINK:

While reading different articles, we came across the term HondaLink and wanted to know what it
is and how does it work. We also wanted to know if it improves Honda’s safety standards or not.
Moreover, we wanted to get an insight on the progress that this feature has made or what changes
has it brought in the road collisions. We started our study on HondaLink through secondary
research and found out that Honda also has another AI system known as HondaLink, that is a
cloud-based integrated system and it connects with the user’s smartphones and data packages. Its
features include geofencing and speed alerts for parents of teen drivers, stolen vehicle locator,
advanced roadside assistance, automatic collision notification. The roadside assistance, and the
automatic collision notification being the most prominent ones when it comes to safety.
DRIVER FEEDBACK:

HondaLink also provides a feature known as the Driver Feedback. It is basically a rating
provided by the app to the driver based on how the customer drives the car. A low rating means
that the customer does not drive the car well and needs to work on it; whereas, a high rating
means that the customer drives the car really well and they should keep it up. HondaLink also
provides Driving Tips to the drivers with low ratings. It has also been observed from Verisk’s
analysis that low rating drivers are seven times more likely to experience a collision or file an
insurance claim than those with high ratings.
All-New Driver Feedback Feature Designed to Encourage Better, More Fuel-Efficient Driving
Techniques
What is HondaLink? A Deep Dive on Honda's Car Control App | Digital Trends

WHAT IS THE "SAFETY FOR EVERYONE" CAMPAIGN? WHAT IMPACT DOES IT

HAVE ON THE REPUTATION OF THE COMPANY?

THERE HAVE BEEN CASES WHERE CUSTOMERS HAVE EXPERIENCED COLLISIONS

AND WALKED AWAY UNHARMED FROM THEM. HOW DID HONDA MANAGE THIS?
WHAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGY AND STRUCTURE IS IMPLEMENTED IN THE

VEHICLES TO MAKE IT SO SAFE FOR THE CUSTOMERS?

Honda’s “Safety For Everyone” campaign/approach is worth noticing. The question that was
revolving in our minds was that what is this campaign? What impact does it have on the
reputation of the company? We discovered that there have been numerous road accidents
involving Honda vehicles where drivers have escaped unhurt. These people share their
experiences of surviving accidents involving Honda vehicles in this campaign, known as the
Safety For Everyone campaign.

NICOLE HART:

The story of Nicole Hart, a Honda driver, who survived an accident without any injury best
describes Honda’s safety standards and enhances Honda’s reputation. She posted on her
Facebook stating that it was all because of the Honda HR-V’s structure and design that she didn’t
get any injury and was unharmed. This also explains the question regarding how exactly did
Honda manage this? How did Nicole Hart survive without experiencing any injury? The Honda
engineers are really dedicated towards their customer’s safety and have also explained their
different techniques to increase the safety standards of the cars. There is also a feature known as
the ACE Body Structure that must have contributed towards the mitigation of damage in the
collision.
Powerful Stories About Safety Performance from Honda Customers and Family Members
Expand Honda "Safety for Everyone" Brand Campaign

WEAKNESSES:

As we might be aware that everything has its ups and downs. Similarly, other than being
successful in so many areas, Honda must have gone through tough times as well. We researched
on the problems faced by Honda and have included one of them as it was one of the major
problems faced by Honda, and most importantly, it was concerned with the safety standards.
However, our research in this case is not focused on the predicament itself, but how Honda
responded to it.

HOW DID HONDA DEAL WITH THE INCIDENT OF FAULTY AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT

WHICH LED TO INJURIES AMONG THE VEHICLE OCCUPANTS? AND WHAT

MAJORS WERE TAKEN TO NOT REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKE?

TAKATA AIRBAG INFLATORS:

There was this question regarding some cases where the airbags in Honda vehicles turned out to
be defective, causing shrapnel and leading to injuries and even deaths. We wanted to know how
Honda dealt with this calamity as it put the customers’ lives at risk, and what steps did Honda
take to prevent this from happening again? We learned through our secondary research that
there have been several cases where the airbags in Honda cars have exploded during collisions
due to some chemical reactions. Honda used to buy these airbags from Takata Corporation and
when these airbags were exposed to a certain temperature and environment, they would explode
and release shrapnel. As a result, Honda made the decision to stop purchasing airbags from
Takata and they also recalled cars for repair purposes. They started buying airbags from other
manufacturers and have arranged the replacement of the parts free of cost. Honda urged owners
who have received recall notices to get repairs made as soon as possible, especially those with
the most dangerous type of inflator. We can say that the biggest issue that Honda has faced so far
is the problem with the defective airbags. However, it is also evident that Honda has responded
to this problem really wisely. Therefore, we can conclude that Honda really cares about its
customers’ safety and this is what makes Honda different from the other manufacturers.
U.S. man repairing Honda car dies after airbag inflator explodes
Airbag Inflator | Honda

HOW DOES HONDA MANAGE ISSUES RELATED TO LOW GROUND CLEARANCE

ESPECIALLY IN COUNTRIES LIKE PAKISTAN WHERE ROADS ARE IN THE WORST
CONDITION?

The issue of Underbody Scraping is found in every car, but it is mostly concerned with Honda’s
new model cars. Low ground clearance mostly benefits from an increase in their ability to handle
effectively and smoothly, but only on smoother, flat surfaces and roads. However, in countries
like Pakistan where the condition of roads is not good as compared to other countries the low
ground clearance damages the car when it is passed over a nasty speed bump and sometimes
makes the vehicle prone to water damages. To get rid of these damages Honda installed buffer in
their cars, fit taller rims and tires in cars by boosting the tire height while retaining the rims, and
installed aluminum spacers on the shock absorber mountings to increase ground clearance.
Some ground clearance kits are also available with the authorized car dealers that comprise a
collection of tapes, fluids, and paint solutions. These types of equipment are incorporated on the
part of the car as per the instructions present with the supplied manual. Thus, in this way Honda
has improved its low ground clearance.
Therefore, we can conclude that Honda really cares about its customers’ safety and this is what
makes Honda different from the other manufacturers.