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Honda Vezel leaked in Mugen trim

Just last month at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda revealed its new Vezel crossover, a production version of the Urban SUV concept that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show. According to new reports, the model already has a three-month waiting list in Japan alone. But that doesn't mean Honda's tuning division, Mugen, is waiting around to spruce it up.
Pictured here is the Mugen-tuned version of the Vezel leaked from a sales brochure in Japan. While there's not much information to go on, Mugen's take on the Vezel appears to be wearing a custom aero kit, with more pronounced lower bumpers and side sills, a more Acura-like grille treatment and different wheels.
Whether we'll ever get a Mugen package like this when the Fit-based CUV arrives in North America remains to be seen, but we've historically gotten very few of these tuned-up Hondas. In fact, we're still not even sure what the tiny crossover will be called when it arrives here, but something tells us it won't arrive carrying the Vezel moniker.

Google's new Android Autos OS unveiled, will be in cars this year [w/video]

Connected cars are coming en-masse. We know this much. How, though, remains something of an open question, especially as two of the world's largest tech companies are preparing to battle for control of your car's dashboard. On the one hand, we have Apple and its CarPlay system. And now, we know what Google has been working on with Auto Link.
Its new name is Android Auto, and yes, it's based off the Android architecture that is the primary challenger to Apple's iOS mobile operating system. Announced at Google's I/O conference today, Android Auto functions similarly to CarPlay - owners will need to plug their smartphones into their cars to access the full breadth of capability.
In Android Auto's case, that means a wealth of voice controls to limit distracted driving. Google's marquee apps will be available when the interface arrives in production models later this year, including Google Play Music, Google Maps and voice-activated texting and text playback. Meanwhile, developers will be able to begin designing custom apps for the new system via an upcoming software development kit.

Former Honda CEOs chide current boss about quality

Taking charge of a major corporation will never be without its challenges, and one of those - as Honda CEO Takanobu Ito is finding out - is filling the big shoes of those that came before. Ito's predecessors are apparently not pleased with what he's doing to the company, and are wasting no time in telling him so.
According to Reuters, two former Honda chiefs have recently visited Ito (pictured above with his predecessor Takeo Fukui) to talk to him about the Japanese automaker's quality issues, which they apparently regard as eroding the company's image. Nobuhiko Kawamoto, who served as CEO from 1990-98, reportedly came to Honda headquarters in Tokyo to deliver "stern words" to Ito last month. Kawamoto's immediate successor, Hiroyuki Yoshino, reportedly met with Ito under similar circumstances earlier this year.
Kawamoto and Yoshino are part of a larger group of former Honda executives who are concerned with the declining quality of the company's products under Ito's leadership. Where Honda once focused more on quality, collaborating more closely with parts suppliers,more recently the company has, in the eyes of those former executives at least, shifted its focus to quantity and to new technologies. That's what, the report alleges, has led to Honda recalling so many of its vehicles in recent years.