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Honda reveals XR-V crossover in Chengdu

Global automakers have been moving largely towards global products, but that doesn't mean it can't tweak them for local tastes. Take Honda, for example, and its new compact crossover. Unveiled late last year as the Vezel, the crossover is expected to arrive in Europe and North America as the HR-V. But in China, it's being called the XR-V and adopts the form you see here.
Presented by Dongfeng Honda at the Chengdu Motor Show, the new XR-V is based closely on the Vezel but adopts some unique bodywork for a more rugged look. The front end gets a more SUV-like grille and bumper, while the side flanks are less swoopy but with more muscular wheel arches. The result may not be as bonkers as the Mugen version that debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon tuner show, but reminds us more of the similarly named and ruggedized Subaru XV Crosstrek.
Though technically billed as a concept, the Chinese-market XR-V looks just about ready for production as it is. Both 1.5- and 1.8-liter engines are specified, and while there may not be a wealth of other details available, you can read what there is in the press release (presented in original and translated forms) below.

Japanese spark plug giant NGK pleads guilty to price fixing, to pay $52M fine

The ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice into price fixing in the automotive industry has nabbed one more company breaking the law. Japanese parts giant NGK Spark Plug Company agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of pricing fixing and bid rigging in the in the US District Court in Detroit. Its punishment is a $52.1 million criminal fine and to continue to cooperate with the DOJ's sleuthing into the problem.
According to the DOJ, NGK conspired to fix prices on spark plugs, standard oxygen sensors, and air fuel ratio sensors on vehicles from major automakers in the US, including the former DaimlerChrysler, Honda and Toyota, in a scheme that ran from at least January 2000 to July 2011. The charge claimed that the company and its co-conspirators held meetings where they agreed on bids and price quotes that were submitted to the automakers.
With the latest plea, the DOJ has caught 28 companies and 26 executives for price-fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, and they have collected $2.4 billion in criminal fines. In 2013, the feds brought nine Japanese suppliers down at once, to collect $740 million. Scroll down to read the DOJ's complete announcement of the case.

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.