On Monday, Honda revealed the new Acura NSX supercar at the North American international Auto Show. The mid-engine supercar will also be built and developed in the state of Ohio.

Rather than a large V-8 or V-10, the Acura NSX will be built so light and agile that a V-6 engine will provide the vehicle with more than enough power, and as an added bonus will a hybrid fuel system that have a fuel economy that matches the likes of Ferrari.

The car won't hit the market for about three years, but will feature a number of technological advances, including multiple electric motors that have been configured to enhance the performance of the all-wheel drive system. They will be independently controlled by the vehicle's computer, and will be able to send more power to the outside wheels during tight turns, which will make the car even more nimble. Honda refers to this as the Sport Hybrid (SH-AWD) All Wheel Drive system.

There hasn't yet been any announcement made about the pricing. The original NSX, however, cost $90,000 when it was produced from 1990 to 2005, so that gives a general idea of where pricing may fall.

Honda has long built Civic and other models in Marysville, Ohio.

Honda Motor Co. has issued a recall for 304,000 vehicles around the world due to airbags that may inflate with too much pressure in a crash, sending metal and plastic pieces flying, causing injuries and death.

According to Honda, there have been 20 accidents thus far related to the problem, including two deaths in the United States in 2009. Honda announced the recall, which affects the Accord, Civic, Odyssey, Pilot, CR-V and other models, early on Friday.

The recall covers 273,000 vehicles in the U.S., about 27,000 in Canada, 2,000 in Japan, and another 2,000 in other countries. Just 359 vehicles in Europe were affected.

This latest recall is an expansion of recalls for the same issue in 2008, which was again carried out in 2009 and 2010. The recall now covers 2 million vehicles worldwide, according to the Japanese automaker.

On Wednesday, Toyota's U.S. branch announced a major recall of approximately 283,200 Toyota and 137,000 Lexus vehicles to replace a potentially faulty crankshaft pulley on the V6 engine.

Toyota Motor Sales USA said in a statement:

"There is a possibility that the outer ring of the crankshaft pulley may become misaligned with the inner ring, causing noise and/or illumination of the discharge warning light. If this condition is not corrected, the belt for the power steering pump may become detached from the pulley and the driver may notice a sudden increase in steering effort."

Vehicles included in the recall include the 2004 Avalon, Camry, Highlander, and Sienna, as well as the 2004 and 2005 models of the Solara, the 2006 Highlander, the 2004 ES330 and RX300, and the 2006 RX400h.

Toyota says that there have been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue, however, a spokesperson said that 79 complaints had been logged worldwide over the defect. Worldwide, another 130,000 vehicles were being recalled with 38,000 of those being in Japan.

Most people believe that its safest to wear a seatbelt in a car than to not wear one, however, it now appears that seatbelts may also be the source of a very serious problem. According to a new study, women who wear seatbelts while driving are at a greater risk than men.

Researchers discovered that female drivers wearing seatbelts were more likely to be injured than male drivers wearing seatbelts. In addition, women wearing seatbelts while driving suffered more chest and spine injuries than belted men in comparable crashes.

This doesn't mean you should stop wearing seatbelts, however, it does suggest that perhaps it's time to take a closer look at why this is happening. According to the study, the women's injuries were caused by "relatively short stature, preferred seating posture and a combination of these factors yielding lower safety protection from the standard restraint devices."

In other words, seatbelts in cars are not designed with women in mind. I've been saying this forever - they're downright uncomfortable, and often times cut across my neck awkwardly. Some cars are better than others, but most are pretty bad. And I'm 5'7", so not super short, and I can't imagine what it's like for women who are even shorter than me.

Following Ford and General Motors ratifying new contracts, the last Detroit automaker, Chrysler, has reached a deal with the United Auto Workers union. On early Wednesday, Chrysler Group LLC. and the UAW agreed to a new four-year contract that would create 2,100 new jobs.

Under the agreement, Chrysler will also invest $4.5 billion in its plants, which covers 26,000 workers in the United States. No other details of the agreement have yet been made available, and workers must still ratify the agreement.

This is the first contract since Chrysler was bailed about by the government and its bankruptcy two years ago. It's also the first contract since its management was taken over by the Italian automaker Fiat.

In a statement, UAW Vice President General Holifield said in a statement:

"This agreement is the latest in a remarkable turnaround for Chrysler."

According to a person briefed on the contract, the deal is not quite as generous as the agreements the UAW has with GM and Ford.

Automaker Saab has is moving close to financial collapse after a Swedish court rejected its request for bankruptcy protection on Thursday.

The ruling by the Vanersborg District Court means that Saab, which has been struggling financially since General Motors sold it Spyker Cars in the Netherlands in 2010, is just days away from facing bankruptcy action by trade unions.

Spyker Cars has changed its name to Swedish Automobile since acquiring Saab, and says that it will appeal the court's decision before the September 29 deadline.

The Swedish automaker has struggled to pay staff and suppliers, and production at its Trollhattan plant has been suspended for much of the year.

It is not clear whether the court will reconsider or grant Saab's request. Unions representing Saab's 3,700 employees said that they will take bankruptcy action within days on behalf of their members who are still waiting to receive their August salaries.

In Sweden, bankruptcy protection is similar to Chapter 11 in the U.S., which allows a company to reorganize, giving it time to improve finances and avoid liquidation. During that period the Swedish government also pays employees salaries. If a company is declared bankrupt, the Swedish government salary guarantee also kicks in.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. announced on Friday that it will recall 1.5 million cars and small SUVs in the United States to repair software that controls the automatic transmission.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that another 760,000 Honda models were recalled in China, and that 2.49 million were recalled worldwide. Honda Canada accounts for 135,142 vehicles.

Without updating the software, the automatic transmission in the affected vehicles could be damaged if the driver quickly shifted between gears. This could cause the engine to stall or make it difficult to put the car into park.

Vehicles affected by the recall include four-cylinder Accord cars from model years 2005 to 2010, and the CR-V crossover for model years 2007 to 2010, as well as the small SUV Element for model years 2005 to 2008.

President Barack Obama is readying to name Youngstown, Ohio, mayor Jay Williams as the head of the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. The position was created in 2009 by executive order soon after General Motors and Chrysler both declared bankruptcies. It is expected that Williams will resign as mayor before taking the position in August.

Between 2008 and 2009, the automotive industry lost around 400,000 jobs. Since that time, just 115,00 of those positions have been added back.

President Obama is set to sign another order that will ask multiple agencies to work with the Labor Department to help offset challenges facing the automotive industry.

The Government Accountability office is asking Congress to refuse to fund the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers on the grounds that Obama should provide more details as to how the funds would be used to help communities in trouble.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) is experiencing an increase in demand for its smaller, more fuel-efficient pickup trucks, and as such, the Brook Park facility in Ohio has revised its plans and will take just one shutdown week this summer instead of two.

Orders for the V-6 engines have grown faster than those for the V-8 engines, and Ford says that the popularity of the fuel-efficient engines has exceeded expectations.

Currently, there are two daily shifts running in order to meet demand. Could a third shift be implemented in the near future? Plant officials won't say, but it is not out of the realm of possibility as a third shift was recently added to the Ford plant in Lima, Ohio.

*Click to view larger version*

The advertisement depicted above won car manufacturer Kia a silver award at the Cannes Lions Festival. At the same time, it has drawn quite a bit of criticism for allegedly promoting pedophilia.

One side of the ad depicts a teacher staying after school with an innocent looking young girl who offers him an apple, the other side shows a much more sultry, sexy girl with an interested male teacher who takes a bite of the "juicy" apple and engages in a suggestion flirtation. In small writing at the bottom of the page is the tagline "A different temperature on each side."

The ad is supposed to promote Kia's dual climate control, but many see the scenario as promoting pedophilia and the seduction of young girls by older male teachers. The promotion of dual climate control, they argue, is merely an afterthought.

The advertisement clearly delivers in the area of sparking interest and discussion, but does this ad cross the line? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.