Honda is punctuating its 2012 comeback in the U.S. market with souped-up output and fetching advertising for the new 2013 Accord mid-size sedan.

Throwing the ninth generation of its mainstay Accord — the first substantially overahauled version since 2008 — into the increasingly competitive and crowded U.S. mid-size sedan market with its official launch this week, Honda is beginning a new integrated advertising campaign "designed to artfully highlight the new Accord's sophisticated design, dynamic performance, rich feature content and value," according to a Honda press release.

And, in fact, the new ads do just that, in the early stages of Honda's "It Starts With You" campaign. The print ads feature, for instance, a bee-startled driver and the caption "Lane Departure Warning. Because Distractions Happen" and a caught-in-the-headlights startled deer (Caption: "LED Headlights.").Continue reading...

American Airlines and United 9/11 lawsuits may finally get resolved.

Andy Murray is poised for endorsement deals after historic U.S. Open win.

Apple will boost carriers and U.S. economy with release of iPhone 5 as Samsung is ready to sue and iPad Mini pictures leak.

Burberry rocks luxury sector with warning of lower sales and profits.

Chevrolet disputes Reuters' Volt report.

Chrysler unveils new models to dealers, prices new Viper around $100,000.

Dallas Morning News launches social-content marketing company.

FedEx and UPS gain ground in China.

GM stops deliveries of several popular 2013 vehicles to fix OnStar glitch.Continue reading...

Honda needs its just unveiled 2013 Accord to be a big hit in the U.S. market and elsewhere. And sure enough, early views of the completely overhauled Accord promise a car with a sleeker design, more interior space yet a smaller exterior footprint, better mileage including a plug-in hybrid version, the latest technological amenities and even an improved interior.

It's not that Honda needs Accord to be a game-changer with the American consumer. The company's U.S. sales are recovering nicely these days from last year's woes: Overall sales in July were up by 45 percent. And Accord sales were up by 70 percent even though the current model is at the end of its lifecycle.

But Honda does need to make sure that the next Accord doesn't screw up a good thing: its ranking as one of the best-selling cars in America for many years and a leader in the fiercely competed mid-size sedan market. Arguably, Honda already misfired, last year, with its other most important nameplate, the compact Civic, whose new version is still getting panned by influential critics such as Consumer Reports.Continue reading...

As a marker for the U.S. auto industry, the New York International Auto Show traditionally has battled for second place with those in Chicago and Los Angeles. The annual Detroit show in January is the most important platform.

But at this point in the recovery of the American auto market, it's hard to believe that any platform anywhere could be more important than the New York show that, after press previews last week, is now in its full splendor for the TriState automotive public. The exhibition is providing consumers with the first glimpses of some new models that could occupy increasingly important positions in the market over the next several months as automakers seek a return to sales levels of 14 million or more for 2012, which would make up roughly half the distance between their Great Recession trough and the halcyon days of 17 million sales per year a decade ago.

Beyond the splashes made by a new version of Chrysler's Viper, and the greeting for Nissan's competition-winning Taxi of Tomorrow for New York City, here are some other brand highlights of the show:

Acura: Honda's luxury brand is trying to become relevant again in the most tried-and-true way: launching a flurry of new products. The RLX sport-sedan concept on display at NYIAS will soon go into a production version that will be on sale early next year and replace Acura's slow-selling RL. Continue reading...

Toyota and Honda must be concerned about the here and now after their abysmal 2011s. They're still attempting to get back to par with their global venicle inventories and have been gearing up new products they're hoping will begin attracting Americans back to their brands this year.

But at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, their necessary preoccupation with sales numbers for this month and next month didn't prevent Toyota and Honda executives from turning toward the mid- and long-term future as well.

For Toyota, that meant, among other things, a heavy reckoning with its trailblazing investments in hybrid automobiles and a rather candid assessment of American consumers' continued ambivalence about electrified automobiles. The brand showed off its new Prius c — the "c" in the name is for city — a small entry in its growing "family" of Prius hybrids, and bowed its NS4 concept plug-in hybrid that should see the market around 2015.Continue reading...

Hyundai offers its Assurance; now Honda has its Promise.

In a bid to hang on to small-car customers it might otherwise be losing because it is running short of key models including Civic, Honda is launching a new policy that allows US dealers to honor current incentives ... even if purchasers must wait weeks until the exact units they want become available.

Yes, not all brand fans are like "Million-Mile Joe," a Honda loyalist in Norway, Maine, who's about to hit the million mile mark in his 1990 Accord.Continue reading...

Weatherproof debuts new Times Square billboard using President Obama's image. [NY Times]

Sam's Club to sell own brand of vodka. [ABC News]

3D will be a major trend in 2010 with Sony, ESPN, Discovery and Imax offering products. [USA Today]

Cadbury and Hershey in talks after Kraft's hostile takeover bid suffers setbacks. [Times of London]

Toyota and Ford top brand perception survey. [WSJ]

Dove's new men's line goes to the gridiron, will debut at the Super Bowl. [AdAge]Continue reading...