In my rearview mirror: GM Foundation grant, Honda recall, Best of Texas vehicles

Often stuff happens that isn’t quite major enough to merit a single large story.  Here are some from the past week:

GM Foundation gives $100,000 to the American Red Cross On April 20th, GM provided a grant to the Red Cross to aid emergency management officials to help provide shelter and housing — some of which will support the relief efforts in West, TX.

GM has a considerable presence in Texas, including its plant in Arlington, TX.  “…we count many Texans as family, friends and neighbors and want to help them in this time of great need,” said Selim Bingol, VP of GM global communications and public policy, and chairman of the GM foundation.  “All of us extend our condolences to those affected by the West, Texas tragedy.

Annually, the Red Cross responds to more than 4,000 disasters in the state of Texas, assisting nearly 6,000 families.

Honda bedeviled by new round of recalls; 200,000 vehicles affected                            Is it just me, or has this been the worst four months ever for vehicle recalls.  Honda alone has had to recall more than a million vehicles since the first of the year, and this new problem adds almost another quarter million to the mix.

Of specific concern is that the recently-launched 2013 Acura RDX sedans.  This luxury product was designed to be an especially high-tech offering.  So embarrassing.  Also recalled were 128,000 Honda CR-Vs and 59,000 Odyssey minivans, both sold during the 2012 and 2013 model year.

The problem involves the shift-interlock system which could cause runaway problems if not corrected.  No customer complaints, word of crashes or other flash points have been reported.  In this case, it should be relatively easy for Honda to contact the owners of affected vehicles since these are very recent models.

If you wish to contact them first, go to www.recalls.honda.com or www.recalls.acura.com, or contact them by phone at (800)999-1009 for Honda or (800)382-2238 for Acura.  Select option 4 on the menu.

Texas Auto Writers Association to name Best in Texas next week                                It’s that time again for the Texas’ own bunch of journalists and photographers to evaluate the vehicles that manufacturers believe could be the best of Texas.  More than 60 professionals in the field drive more than 60 passenger cars, SUVs and Crossovers to select the best in categories that have them competing against their real market competitors.

The grounds and infield track at the Texas Motor Speedway are the scene of the action.  The vehicles probably represent your family’s other vehicle, although there are some sport vehicles in the mix.  I will be blogging from there and should have results to you by Tuesday morning so you can complain about the results then.

This is not the competition for sport trucks and heavy dutys (that happens in October).  I am already thinking that the truck rodeo — my favorite event — will be hugely competitive this year with virtually every truck maker offering something fresh and new with substantial improvements in performance and fuel efficiency.

New Nissan Trucks?                                                                                                         Also on the truck front, Fred Diaz,the  president of RAM truck who was a key player in the brand’s reinvention and president of Chrysler de Mexico, has joined Nissan in a key corporate vice presidential role that focuses on trucks and commercial vehicles.  This lends huge credence to the rumors that Nissan will have new trucks of their own for model year 2015-6.