Acura showed a next-generation hybrid SUV prototype during a global Honda business briefing in Japan today, previewing what appears to be the successor to the RDX, which will be discontinued at the end of the 2026 model year. The prototype represents the first of what Honda says will be 15 new Acura and Honda hybrid models arriving globally by 2030, primarily in North America.
The RDX sold 32,945 units in the U.S. in 2025, down from 35,824 units in 2024, in a compact luxury crossover segment that includes the Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class, Volvo XC60, and BMW X3. The current RDX has been offered exclusively with a turbocharged gasoline engine. The prototype signals Acura’s first move into hybrid power for its core SUV lineup.
Honda global CEO Toshihiro Mibe framed the shift as a reallocation of development and production resources to accelerate hybrid launches ahead of the company’s original schedule. “We have made steady progress in the development of hybrid vehicle technologies, where Honda has strengths, based on our belief that hybrid models will continue to be the key to addressing environmental challenges,” Mibe said in prepared remarks.
The new hybrid system is a second-generation evolution of Honda’s two-motor architecture, with claimed improvements in fuel economy of more than 10% and a reduction in system costs of 30% compared to the hybrid system introduced in 2023. A newly developed electric all-wheel-drive unit will handle torque distribution through motor control rather than mechanical components.
Acura will begin launching hybrid models with this system and a next-generation platform in the next two years. The company did not confirm pricing, trim structure, or whether the prototype shown today will carry the RDX nameplate or receive a new designation. The timing puts the production model on showroom floors sometime in the 2028 model year.
Honda also announced a next-generation advanced driver assistance system planned for introduction starting in 2028, which the company says will assist with acceleration and steering on both expressways and surface roads based on navigation inputs. The system is being developed for application to hybrid models.
The RDX has been Acura’s volume leader in recent years. Whether the brand’s compact luxury SUV buyers will accept a hybrid-only successor in a segment where gasoline engines remain standard fare is a question the next two model years will answer.
Source: Acura. Images courtesy of Acura.
