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Snapshots from Acura NSX prototype run at Mid-Ohio

Acura's achingly slow showing of the new, hybrid NSX saw yet another step yesterday, as we reported late last week. A powder-blue prototype ran ahead of the open-wheelers at the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Why show the NSX Prototype at Mid-Ohio? Honda's Ohio research and development center, which has taken the lead on NSX development, is just 60 miles from the track. And as race sponsor, Honda must have figured it would give the spectators a glimpse of the new supercar it's been teasing for the better part of a decade.
With a planned launch in 2015 (special emphasis on the "planned" part, considering the NSX's history), the NSX Prototype shown here sports graphics that "speak to Acura's intention to go racing with the new NSX." That's great news for fans of endurance racing, although it remains to be seen when a motorsports program for the new NSX will get off the ground.
Take a look at the fresh gallery of images, and be sure to head over to our original Mid-Ohio post for the video footage of the NSX Prototype on track.

Check out the Honda Civic hatchback's shapely rear end

The 10-generation Honda Civic is excellent in all but two areas – performance and utility. The upcoming Si and Type R will satisfy any performance qualms, while Honda will up the utility with its first US-market hatchback in over a decade. Here it is. These images, obtained by the folks at the CivicX forums, are our best look at the hatchback's shapely rear end. Honda kept true to the look of the Civic hatchback prototype shown in Geneva, ditching the twin center-exit exhaust pipes. We're hoping Honda revisits the design on a future Si hatchback, but keeps a similar rear bumper design. The large, black plastic inserts that house the rear reflectors are a more aggressive look than either the Civic coupe or sedan, but aren't flashy or overdone. Weirdly, the rear window reminds us of the Accord CrossTour's back glass, only not ugly. There's a healthy spoiler at the top of the window, along with a similarly sized unit connecting the two taillights. Again, this is mostly like the concept shown in Geneva. What's curious is the date that these images were captured. See, the Civic in the image above is boarding the vehicle carrier M/V Orion Highway. And if we Google the ship, we can see it left Southampton on July 29, stopped in Baltimore – home of an expansive vehicle processing center – on August 8. That means the new Civic Hatch is in the US already. Get excited, Civic fans. Related Video:

Half of Chinese car buyers won't shop Japanese over hard feelings

The hard feelings between China and Japan is no real secret. Besides modern-day disputes, the two countries have had a long-running enmity that dates back to well before the atrocities of World War II. All things considered, then, it shouldn't be a shock that half of Chinese car buyers wouldn't consider a Japanese car. This survey, conducted by Bernstein Research, found that 51 percent of 40,000 Chinese consumers wouldn't even consider a Japanese car – which, again, isn't really surprising, when you consider stories like this. According to Bernstein, the most troubling thing is the location of these sentiments – smaller, growing cities where the population is going to need sets of wheels. We imagine it wouldn't be as big of an issue in traffic-clogged Shanghai or Beijing, but these small cities are going to become a major focus for automakers. "Nationalistic feelings are an impediment. [Japanese] premium brands will struggle," analyst Max Warburton wrote in a research note, according to The Wall Street Journal. Things will improve for Japanese makes, although China will remain a challenge, with Warburton writing, "the one thing that comes out most clearly is that most Chinese really want a German car. While we expect Japanese brands to continue to recover market share this year, ultimately the market will belong to the Germans." There are a few other insights from the study. According to WSJ, Japanese brands are viewed better than Korean brands, and they're seen as more comfortable than the offerings from Germany or the US, despite the fact that everyone in China apparently wants a German car. This is a tough position for the Japanese makes to be in, as there's really not a lot they can do to win favor with Chinese buyers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, particularly as the importance of the PRC continues to increase year after year. News Source: The Wall Street Journal - sub. req.Image Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty Images Honda Mazda Nissan Toyota Car Buying