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Acura RLX will die after 2020 model year

Only Acura knows why its flagship RLX sedan is still on sale; every year that we had occasion to remember the RLX — which wasn't every year — seemed like a good year to let the car die peacefully. Automotive News reports the deed is finally done, or rather, will be at the end of 2020, when Acura discontinues the model that started with the RL in 1996. Honda told U.S. dealers yesterday that in other markets like Japan, the four-door will continue to sell as the Honda Legend. Honda's comment to AN included, "With SUVs leading the luxury market, the highly successful RDX and MDX now serve as volume leaders of the Acura brand," and, "We will further strengthen our sports sedans, consistent with the performance-focused direction we have been taking Acura over the past four years." Speaking of the devil, the RL and RLX — and Acura as a brand — never got out from under the weight of the Legend sedan, that ancestor being the second of Acura's three albatrosses after the original NSX and the Integra. The RL never equaled the Legend's worst year of U.S. sales. The RLX, a combination of arousing performance under anodyne styling costing premium German money, might have performed the same feat viz the RL, but the RL sold less than 5,000 units here for the last five years of its life. The RLX has only exceeded 5,000 sales once, in 2013. Last year, 1,019 units found buyers.  Acura's focus now is the NSX halo and the continuing overhaul of the volume lineup. The new RDX is going great guns, the new MDX crossover is due this year. The slightly larger and Type S concept-inspired TLX sedan is expected to be another gift to 2020, followed by the return of a bona fide Type S next year, after which the ILX compact sedan gets its turn. Last year was the first time in five years the TLX dipped below 30,000 sales in the U.S., impressively steady going for a segment with shocking attrition. Although the demise of the RLX gives up on the aspiration for a big luxury flagship, the coming TLX should help us forget what the RLX represented. If we hadn't already.

Acura puts on display of mechanical horsepower in new ad

Originally forged with a brand identity based on luxury, sportiness and practicality, Acura has spent the last decade or so struggling with its image. The sporting credibility suffered a mighty blow with the loss of cars like the Integra, RSX and NSX, and recent years have seen the Japanese company attempting to recast itself as a technology leader.
All of that makes this latest Acura commercial, Let The Race Begin, even more difficult to understand, metaphorically speaking. The horsepower-horse race 'theme' certainly isn't difficult to fathom, with mecca-equine versions of popular luxury brands filling the screen. But the choice to make Acura's filly a flesh-and-blood creation seems odd, for the high-tech theme. Acura as "thoroughbred apart from the rest of the field" seems to be the rough message here, though we're not sure we're buying it. We're also not sure we're comfortable with how much these ponies reminded us of a certain off-putting robotic dog...
Looks expensive, at any rate. Watch the robot ponies run for yourself, below.

2022 Acura MDX named IIHS Top Safety Pick+

The 2022 Acura MDX passed the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's crash prevention and testing program with flying colors, earning a Top Safety Pick+ designation.  Acura's three-row crossover was redesigned for the 2022 model year and rides on a brand new, future-proofed platform that will eventually underpin other models in the Honda/Acura families. It scored top marks across the board in the nonprofit's crash safety and accident avoidance tests, and thanks to the MDX's standard LED headlights, there's no asterisk on that result; it applies to each and every model of the 2022 MDX.  To get a Top Safety Pick+ nod this year, a vehicle must be rated "Good" in all crash tests, earn an "Advanced" or "Superior" rating in both collision avoidance tests (vehicle and pedestrian), and must receive at least an "Acceptable" rating for all of its headlight offerings. The MDX received the highest possible rating in each of those categories; it was also rated "Good+" for the ease of use of its LATCH child seat anchors.  Related video: