First look: Honda's next MDX in the metal

WE SAW the official artist’s impression late last month - now Honda’s US luxury brand Acura has revealed a lightly disguised concept previewing its second-generation MDX.

Due for release in the US in September before reaching Australian shores as a Honda next year, it is claimed the all-new MDX will deliver "a whole new level of performance and sophistication to the Acura light truck line-up".

Acura claims track-tuning at Germany’s Nurburgring will see the next MDX, which it describes as a luxury-performance or true driver’s SUV, reinvent the luxury SUV sector by offering outstanding performance and handling.

To that end, the MDX Concept features a "powerful, class-leading V6 coupled with Acura’s exclusive Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD)".

The MDX Concept’s exterior styling, claimed to be modelled after a high-powered mega-yacht (the current MDX’s design was said to take after a rhinoceros), is "indicative of the next-generation MDX production model".

It features a low, wide stance with a five-sided grille, narrow Xenon headlights, a flush-mounted windscreen, full-length side character lines and 20-inch alloys within large wheelarches.

At the rear, there is a heavily raked D-pillar, dual exhausts, a spoiler and LED tail-lights that wrap around an integrated rear hatch.

Sitting on wider wheel tracks and a longer wheelbase than the current MDX, the aerodynamic MDX Concept is said to retain the existing model’s third-row seating and cargo-carrying functionality.

"Every aspect of the MDX Concept design conveys performance while still retaining SUV functionality," said Acura senior vice-president of auto operations John Mendel. "The styling signifies a bold direction for the next-generation MDX, both in appearance and substance."