The MDX is the best-selling Acura in the lineup. It’s also America’s best-selling luxury three-row SUV. But that’s not good enough.
Acura is redesigning the MDX and as it prepares to enter a fourth generation, a prototype of the new SUV will be shown on October 14. This looks to follow the same pattern as the TLX launch, which saw a prototype revealed about six months before the true model debut, just after the PMC Edition was put on sale.
Acura says that the next-gen MDX will usher in ” new levels of Acura design, performance, technology and craftsmanship, assuming the mantle as the brand’s new flagship model”. And that’s a good thing. The brand revolution that started with the RDX and continued with the TLX looks to go even further in a bid to re-establish Acura on its premium model throne.
The ofirst MDX was the industry’s first three-row SUV based on a unibody platform, a design that has since gone mainstream as crossovers and lifestyle SUVs overrun a vehicle type that started as rugged off-roaders and family trucksters. Since it’s debut, the MDX has garnered praise from buyers and critics alike including winning the 2001 North American Truck of the Year and 2001 Motor Trend SUV of the Year awards.
Over the past two decades, cumulative sales have surpassed 1 million units, securing MDX’s place as the best-selling Acura model, accounting for roughly one-third of the brand’s U.S. sales since its launch.
“We’re accelerating Acura’s commitment to Precision Crafted Performance and this fourth-generation MDX is the most ambitious and consequential redesign of an Acura core model in our history,” said Jon Ikeda, vice president and Acura brand officer. “This all-new MDX will take us into new territory in terms of performance, prestige and emotional appeal.”
The teaser image (above) and video (below) that were released today highlight the sharply sculpted beltline running the perimeter of the wider, lower and longer MDX, connecting the Jewel Eye LED headlights at the front to the Chicane LED taillights in the rear.
The MDX Prototype pulls heavily from the RDX and TLX with design nods to each. Still, it’s unmistakably a three-row SUV. Though we don’t know for sure what’s under the hood, expect the MDX to have more a dynamic driving style when it debuts, following in the vein of the RDX and TLX redesigns.
