Acura has outlined a short-term plan built around two new SUVs: an off-road-focused 'adventure-ready' model due in the first part of 2028, and an eight-passenger flagship larger than the MDX that the brand calls its biggest vehicle ever.
Neither has a confirmed name. Acura has also not published pricing, specifications or an on-sale date for the larger SUV, which it has only confirmed is under development.
A rugged Acura, teased by its own wheel
The adventure-ready SUV is Acura's first off-road-capable model since the SLX of the late 1990s, and the company says it takes the brand into a new segment. Acura released a single teaser image: a multispoke wheel wearing what looks like an all-terrain tire, spinning through dirt.
That wheel is the strongest hint about the car's underpinnings. Car and Driver notes it could be mistaken for a Honda Passport TrailSport wheel, and because the two brands share platforms, the new Acura may be closely related to Honda's TrailSport range. The caliper-inspired Acura logo is the only giveaway in the image.
An eight-seater above the MDX
The second model has been rumoured for a while and is now confirmed: an eight-passenger SUV larger than the existing three-row MDX, which would make it the largest vehicle Acura has built.
Acura has not given a launch window for the flagship. Car and Driver's expectation is around 2030, tied to the opening of Honda's planned hybrid-only factory. That timing is an inference, not an announcement, and Acura has not confirmed it.
A shared hybrid V-6
Acura says both SUVs are likely to use its new hybrid V-6, a Honda-developed setup with up to three electric motors that Honda claims improves acceleration by 10 percent.
If the 2030 timing holds, the flagship would arrive as Honda's dedicated hybrid production comes online, which would make a hybrid-only or hybrid-led powertrain line-up plausible for the largest model. The off-roader's 2028 date puts it earlier in that transition.
For buyers, the practical effect is a wider Acura range aimed at two audiences the brand has largely ceded: buyers who want genuine off-road ability, and large families who need a third row plus more space than the MDX offers. Honda's TrailSport models have been selling into the first of those; Acura has had nothing comparable since the SLX ended its run in the 1990s.
