Dude said price is not final (around 5:06 mark)?!!! Acura probably heard too many laughs from here and across multiple forums.
Korkor more or less confirmed the ZDX is a stopgap EV vehicle for Acura.

The interviewer asked a lot of poignant questions I would've asked.

 

You're absolutely correct! In 2019, we saw the leaked document. It was until 2022 actually and there was no mention of ZDX.ZDX TYPE S or RDX TYPE S. The ILX was replaced - New Compact Sedan! So anything 2023 and onward was never shared and mentioned.

 

How many of you would be up in arms if the ZDX officially became the RDX replacement?

 

Everything is possible. We can make a lot of assumption...
I thought about this since there is no news about the next gen RDX. No spy shots, no rumors and etc. Only one thing, the name/brand RDX is very strong for the past 10 years. Since the second gen RDX, Acura has been selling a lot of RDX and it's very well received among buyers in this segment. That puts me in doubt that if Acura would chop RDX. But who knows??? At the end of the day, the market is changing with EVs and govt regulations and of course competitions.

Only time will tell us!

 

Finally listened to Friend and he matched my take on why the ZDX name was chosen. Overall good and thoughtful interview, and I agree with all of Friend's takes. Only tough question I wish was asked was why Acura didn't forsee nor meet the huge market demand for Hybrids, since Honda has an entire lineup of that tech available.

I felt given the leaked roadmap that the ZDX was originally planned as the 2025 RDX, and something probably changed as Honda chose to distance itself from GM in its 2025 planning. I'm hoping they add the MDX Hybrid powertrain into the 25 RDX and brand it as a type S, that would be the perfect car for this market.

A dream 25 lineup in the 2-row SUV market would be:
RDX base = ICE
RDX TypeS = Hybrid
ZDX = BEV
PMC unicorn = hydrogen + EV

 

What's your on Prologue guys?
https://hondanews.com/en-US/honda-au...g-of-300-miles

At least Honda did a good job to separate the two...you can clearly see the interior of Prologue isn't fancy and high-end. But overall, looks good imo.

 

Looks much better than the ZDX. The side profile reminds me of a bigger Honda e, and I like that it doesn't look like a hearse. It looks way more elegant than the competition (bZ4x, Solterra, etc) and assuming they can actually build enough of these will sell very well, especially to folks who won't buy anything other than Japanese (even though it's really a GM product). The ZDX I'm not convinced is going to sell well to anyone other than hardcore Acura fanboys.

 

Also like Prologue better, looks way more elegant and coherent than ZDX, though Prologue is a bit on the dull side. Honda will certainly be able to convert a lot of CRV lease owners in California to Prologue.

 

The rear of the Prologue reminds me of the Evoque, which lends to the understated elegance of the design. I suspect it will age very well.

 

I feel Honda shows more confidence in Prologue than ZDX. The Prologue studio setup was bright and welcoming, and the press photos are warm. In contrast, the ZDX studio setup was abnormally dark, and most interior shots are not only dark but also zoomed out to hide the details.

I feel Acura knew the interior was DOA'ed, so they tried to hide it.

 

I think for good reason; so much of the interior of both cars is lifted straight out of GM products. For the Prologue's price point, that's not an issue, but for the ZDX, I'm not so sure. The steering wheel, door handles, lock buttons, seat memory buttons, mirror controls, window switches, turn signal stalk, and "gear selector" stalk are carbon copies from the Blazer. The HVAC controls look identical to the ones in the GMC Canyon. The infotainment system looks identical to the one in the Prologue, which itself appears to be identical to the one used in the current generation GM cars. The driver display looks the same as well, except the ZDX gets a shroud thing that goes over the top whereas the Prologue's is bare.

 

That's so true...That studio to showcase the ZDX was horrible. An old warehouse, dark and very poor lighting...Prologue does look good. I like the back of it. Let's see how these cars will do. Prologue or ZDX, I have zero intention to but an EV in the nearer future. I don't believe in this whole EV concept.

 

Saw a Cybertruck release candidate yesterday - all of a sudden ZDX became a beauty lol

Back to the market dynamics that is awaiting ZDX, Lucid is going all out to push volume. They are running a special 18-month lease for Air, with the same monthly payment as 36-month one. Although I highly doubt anyone would really cross shop Lucid Air and ZDX, if the payment is not a lot more then any potential ZDX buyer (is there any?) should have a look at Air (and realize that ZDX interior looks like a Malibu EV).

 

I received an email from Acura today concerning in-home electrification (Acura HE). Looks like Acura did put all their eggs into the EV basket. I can see this not ending well...

 

The HE thing is confusing IMHO. Acura want to combine equipment and installation in one deal, however, I rather buy the equipment and find a local reputable installer then going the HE site route. Who knows which vendor HE works with....

On the early access side, Acura also sent out survey about the process. Of course, I gave it a below average score - I wish Uncle or Uncle's friend try signing up one, then they would realize the process has many flaws. Just give us an online interface, with minimum interaction with salespeople (since most of them don't know a lot about ZDX).

Deposit should go through this one website - I don't care how Acura want to take care of dealership or not, the storefront needs to hide all the ugly bits under the table. Customer should also be able to check the order status from the same site.

And lastly, the Acura EV app.... do I really need legacy Acuralink app for gas Acura, and the EV app for electric Acura? Why Acura have to make things so complicated?

 

 

SG's remarks explained why GM was seen testing a MDX Type-S earlier in the year. What they said also made me feel like Honda engineers have been sitting in their couches, signing off work done by GM engineers. That is until I came across these nice posts with plenty in-person photos, and more importantly, words from the designer and lead engineer:

https://www.evpulse.com/news/the-202...-acura-designs

https://www.evpulse.com/news/why-is-...acura-zdx-suvs

 

Good news for the Prologue?

https://www.motortrend.com/news/chev...v-of-the-year/

 

I must admit that's a good start for even the ZDX as well! I can almost stomach the decision to get rid of CP/AA based on better battery mileage estimation tracking (almost!).

Interesting that the Blazer will be offered in FWD, RWD, or AWD. This would be Acura's lone RWD vehicle but it's doubtful RWD will be offered for ZDX.
Now if Acura could only make the rear of the ZDX less hearse-like as the Blazer certainly succeeds!

 

GM, Honda scrap plans to co-develop ‘affordable’ sub-$30,000 EVs

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/25/gm-honda-scrap-plans-to-co-develop-affordable-sub-30000-evs.html

 

Cancellation specifically mentions changes due to lower than expected EV demand.

Hopefully this signals Acura rethinking its strategy too, still hoping for a resurrection of hybrids.

 

Acura so badly mismanaged their hybrids it's almost laughable. SH-SH-AWD (which was a terrible name, and showed from the start they didn't know how to market it) was a real differentiator in a market filled with commodity products. The NSX, RLX, and MDX that featured that technology were class-leading vehicles but each one of them was left to rot without proper advertising or salesperson education. That technology, combined with the overall solid products it was installed in, could have propelled Acura to prominence in the premium/near-luxury market.

 

Not quite sure a lack of sales for GM EVs can be extrapolated to the industry more broadly. According to a report from Cox (https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...rt-2023-10-12/) EV sales increased YoY for Q3 to almost 8% market share. As for GM, they seemingly can't build enough EVs that people actually want. The Blazer EV and Lyriq trickle out of the factory slower than an octagenarian trying to pee in the morning, and the Silverado EV and Equinox EV are delayed yet again.

I wouldn't be suprised if GM pulled out because of their plans to bring back the Bolt, even if they claim that's not the reason. I never really understand what value Honda brings to this (short-lived) partnership.

 

Blazer winning SUVOTY is indeed good news for Prologue. Obviously, the interior is not as fancy as Blazer, but the rest are more or less comparable. Reviewers/buyers should easily justify the utilitarian interior by the lower price.

For ZDX, I feel it is a different story because Blazer's fancy interior becomes a problem for ZDX. I am not even talking about the infotainment, just look at the window switches. Blazer has metal-trimmed ones, while the ZDX/Prologue ones are all plastic and look very similar to those on Malibu. Goes to show that bean counters are in full force with ZDX.

I would not completely rule out a hybrid Acura, especially on that small SUV launching next year. The next-generation Honda hybrid architecture has more headroom to scale the power up for Acura application.

I also feel part of the reason GM/Honda disbanded on the low-cost EV is they probably figured out for such smaller-sized application, hybrid makes more sense than EV.

 

The biggest thing that interested me in the ZDX was the tech and comfort: Android Auto touchscreen, air suspension, self parallel parking, handsfree supercruise, etc. Hoping the last two also come to the 2025 MDX.

As far as I can see the environmental impact of batteries is nearly a wash vs gasoline, And in my area electric costs are so high that fuel savings are not yet conpetitive with the purchase price markup.

Hybrids offer all the regen savings of BEV with a much smaller/lower environmental and financial cost of batteries.

I always thought the lack of USA construction labor limiting grid capacity improvements was going to be the EV growth limiter, but I'm hearing battery costs are not improving as fast has the industry had hoped too. Engineers have already improved battery production to the point where manufacturing is only a small cost vs raw materials, so the new limiting factors is the 5-10 year cycle time to open new raw material mines.

My guess is that automakers are realizing that this raw material cost issue will force EVs to stay in the luxury/second car market for the remainder of the decade. Which is why I think they are realizing there is no hope for a low cost EV until the 2030s and are abandoning that market.

The ZDX on the other hand looks to have a far brighter future to me than the Blazer. For me, Android Auto and a desire to avoid GM dealer service departments would already disqualify the Blazer. And ZDX seems positioned as the second car for families in their peak earning years, where I see the Lyriq as a retiree car competing with Lexus.

I honestly don't feel the Blazer / Prologue will meet expectations of a buyer at the pricepoint that the raw materials are requiring.

To me the ZDX competition will be the BEV offerings from same competitors as the MDX. Can Audi/Mercedes/BMW get ther $120k EVs closer to the ZDX price. And can Genesis get their reliability and service close enough to tempt an Acura buyer.

 

If you build it, they will come....unless it's an EV!

Currently driving a brand new Venza loaner and I must say I'm very impressed by the fit and finish of the car! I had actually considered this car when it came back as a hybrid but opted to buy the '21 TLX instead.
Considered an NX last year but the hybrids were demanding ADM so I ended up with my X3.

I'm still very much pro-hybrid and do believe this makes way more sense for 2023 than a straight EV!

 

They have absolutely no reason to shoot for "affordability".

 

Lease price of iX and EQS was low 800 if not high 700 during summer, making lease of $90k+ car comparable to X5/GLE. Isn't that more affordable?

 

So you're comparing heavily incentivized (by government and Mercedes) EV cars against ICE cars w/o the the same thousands in incentives?!!!
Also did you note how much was down for those EV leases vs ICE lease to make it apples to apples?

 

Any idea if the ZDX gets GM's #2 ranked Super Cruise or #14 ranked AcuraWatch?

https://www.autoblog.com/2023/10/25/...ssist-systems/

 

I was not comparing anything, just saying that those $100k+ EVs can get close to ZDX Type-S affordability, which happens to overlap with X5/GLE pricing.

Many people on Lyriq forum have leased EQS and iX because the lease number for Lyriq with down payment is basically the same as iX/EQS with zero down.

 

ZDX typeS is getting supercruise. ZDX base is getting regular Acurawatch.

 

That's crazy news! Too bad I'm not ready for EV since I just got a GLS450 this summer.
According to Edmunds, MF for EQS is as little as 0.0006 = 1.44% interest! Mercedes is definitely not making money on these cars!

 

Do you have a source? I'd be very surprised if any of them gets Acurawatch because this is GM hardware.

 

TypeS has GM tech according to reviewers who have seen the supercruise bar on the top of the steering wheel. Acura calls it Acurawatch 360+ but it is identical features to supercruise including covering the same 400k miles of handsfree roads.

Specs are below
https://acuranews.com/en-US/releases...arly-next-year

 

From the article:

The way I read it, this version of AcuraWatch is likely just a rebranding of Chevy's Safety Assist, seeing as how it's getting all this stuff that GM's have had. "Blind Zone Steering Assist" is a Cadillac term that nobody else in the industry calls their BSA feature.

 

I hope Honda has a delay penalty clause in the contract...

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/10...tennessee/amp/

 

That's old news:

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...ors-rcna122760

 

Urgh! Honda would make more money with any kind of delay penalty!

 

Interesting accessories on the car, but panel alignment is off in the trunk and the right-rear door....