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Acura considering Vezel-based compact crossover

There's a distinct benefit to automakers having their own premium brand. After all, why develop one vehicle to be sold under one nameplate if you can turn it into two? Especially if a little reconfiguration and some premium accoutrements allow said automaker to charge significantly more for the luxury version. It's a winning formula - for crossovers especially - that Toyota has used to turn the Highlander into the Lexus RX (even if the first-gen RX arrived before the original Highlander), that Ford has used to transform the Edgee into the Lincoln MKX and that General Motors has applied to the Chevrolet Suburban to turn it into the Cadillac Escalade (to name just a few of the many examples out there). And it's one to which Honda and its Acura division are certainly not unaccustomed.
Acura has adapted its Euro-spec Honda Accord into the TSX, the Civic into the ILX, the CR-V into the RDX and the Pilot into the MDX. And now that the Honda Vezel is coming to market, Acura reportedly has its eye on that as well. The idea was first introduced when Acura unveiled the SUV-X concept (shown above) at the Shanghai Motor Show this past April, just a few months after Honda revealed its Urban SUV concept that previewed the production Vezel. At the time, says Automotive News, Acura said it intended to put the concept into production in China for the Chinese market, and it's reportedly moving ahead with those plans. But now that it is, executives are wondering where else they might find buyers for the premium compact crossover.
With the Vezel soon to begin production alongside the Fit at Honda's new plant in Mexico, it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Acura version follow suit. The market does, after all, seem to be heating up with entries like the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA, and we couldn't blame Honda - pardon us, Acura - for wanting a slice of that pie.

Honda planning sub-NSX S2000 successor

Nine years separated the arrival of the original Acura NSX and the Honda S2000. By that time, the NSX was closer to the end of its fifteen-year production cycle than it was to its beginning. The latest word has it that not only is Honda planning a successor to the S2000, but it's not about to wait that long after the new NSX arrives before it's rolled out.
While the S2000 was a front-mid-engined roadster, its successor will, according to the latest from Auto Express (which we are taking with a grain of salt), be a mid-engined coupe - closer, in other words, to the NSX than the S2000. Power would come from a more potent version of the 2.0-liter turbo four developed for the upcoming new Civic Type R, possibly as part of a hybrid system derived from Honda's upcoming Formula One powertain to develop over 400 horsepower.
Whether the new sports car would revive the S2000 nameplate, and whether it would wear the Honda or Acura badge in the United States, remain to be seen. As does its potential production site: while the previous S2000 was built at the same Takanezawa plant in Tochigi as the original NSX, the new NSX will be built at the new Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio. The new S660 roadster, meanwhile, is set to be assembled at the same Yachiyo plant in Yokkaichi as the original Honda Beat.

Is Acura working on a premium minivan?

Here's a vehicle that nobody saw coming. Unless Honda/Acura is keen to play tricks on us, our spy shooters recently caught what appears to be an Acura minivan fully camouflaged for testing on some back roads on a rainy day.
Details on the disguised minivan are rather scarce, but it certainly bares all the hallmarks of an Acura. The front grille alone gives it away with a look that mimics the latest MDX, and note that the orientation of the rear door handle heavily suggests that it slides to open. Moving inside, the tester appears to borrow some tech from the luxury brand's parts bin too, and the Acura logo seems to be covered in tape right in the middle of the steering wheel.
Mechanically, our spies believe that the production version of Acura's minivan might borrow the brand's V6, nine-speed automatic and Super Handling All-Wheel Drive - a similar layout to some trims of the TLX. The photographers also think that the vehicle is a little wider than the current Honda Odyssey to give occupants a bit more room. Given the more luxurious focus, the high-end model would surely carry seven people with a bit more opulence than the standard Odyssey, especially, we'd imagine, for second-row passengers. A launch for this posh hauler could be slated for the 2016 or 2017 model years.