Good looking is good looking no matter what you call this Acura four-door hatchback.
Every company is looking for the next big thing as traditional SUVs continue to free fall from fashionable shopping lists with sales diving 30% or more this year. There’s a prototype four-door on display at the New York International Auto Show that is looking like a fresh Japanese take that admittedly emulates BMW’s X6 crossover that debuted a year ago — just in time for the SUV sales disaster.
Since the production version of this stylish prototype of a sports sedan goes on-sale in the fall of 2009, we’ll have to figure out how to characterize it by then. Acura claims that the concept was well underway before the BMW appeared.
It is not surprising in the fashionable, faux world of automotive marketing that Acura claims the ZDX is “segment bending” with “stunning coupe-like styling.”
Well, okay, but four doors are four doors, even if the rear door handles are hidden in the C-pillar. And then there’s the all glass tailgate. The new, err, hatchback model will be priced somewhere between the MDX sport ute, which it is based on, and the $55,000 top-of-the line RL sedan. This likely means in the high $40,000 range, we are guessing.
“The ZDX is truly a luxury performance coupe – plus,” said Jeff Conrad, vice president of Acura sales. “The emotional coupe styling coupled with a luxurious and dramatic interior and surprising versatility, allows the ZDX to define its own segment and attract an entirely new customer.”
Well, we’ll see about that.
The car is a good looking combination of gentle curves, combined with a sharply raked roofline and big fender flares. It does look clean to me. The prototype is finished off with dual chrome exhaust outlets and 9-spoke machined wheels fitted with 20-inch Michelin tires.
“From the very first sketch of the ZDX, I wanted to create an emotional vehicle that challenged conventional thinking of what a sports coupe should be,” said Michelle Christensen, ZDX exterior designer. “My goal was to create a strikingly beautiful exterior, and use that attraction to help draw you into the rich interior.” Christensen is likely the first female designer to head such a project at a Japanese car maker.
Inside, the emphasis is on “pampering” the front passengers. Good luck loading three normal-size passengers in the rear. The cabin has more leather than a tannery: The hand-stitched leather dashboard and instrument panel sweep down to form the now required dual cockpit layout. A black center stack leads to a textured metallic center console, which is in harmony with black and pearl white leather trim. The cabin is enclosed by a panoramic glass roof which runs the entire length of the vehicle.
The production ZDX, when it arrives at Acura dealerships in the fall via a factory in Canada where MDX is made, will have a V6 engine, horsepower unspecified, and an all new 6-speed automatic transmission. The powertrain will be coupled with the exclusive “Super Handling All-Wheel Drive” (SH-AWD) system that is Acura’s attempt to counter the rear-drive performance claims of competing German makes.