What's Wrong With This Acura?
I have a confession to make: the first time I saw the Acura ZDX in the flesh, I actually liked it. Brooding by itself on the edge of a local auto show, the thing stood out in a sea of late-model sameness, a mood-lit, drama-drenched oddity of an automotive mash-up. Ridiculous? Sure. But what’s a semi-practical yet stylish grand touring crossover “aimed at couples” to do?
No, really, what is the ZDX going to do with itself? Having been launched in late 2009, the Acura’s first full year of sales yielded a minuscule 3,259 units sold. That’s about what the Dodge Challenger and Mitsubishi Galant sold in the last month alone. Now Wards Auto [sub] reckons the ZDX could be yanked, raising the possibility that the ZDX could become a limited-numbers collector car down the road (OK that’s a bit presumptuous). TTAC alum Jonny Lieberman reckons there’s nothing wrong with the ZDX that a little “righteousness” can’t fix, and suggests that 500 HP and a new transmission might reverse the sales no-show. I say kill it with fire and let it live as legend. Often the idea of something is better than the reality… and semi-practical yet stylish grand touring crossovers might just be one of those things.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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The ZDX and it's german lookalike, the x6, are both questions that no one asked. Maybe back when they were on a drawing board, the makers thought there'd be a swarm of couples who are older, maybe the kids were gone, and they wanted something sporty but could still make it to the house upstate/the shore/lake/vacation home while living off the booming stock market. Building if off an existing platform meant it was just sheetmetal.... I have an MDX and like it, although I think the target changed between 2008 and 2011 from the X5 to the Lexus RS. The choice was MDX vs X5, and it was 85% of truck for 60% of the money, and with better electronics to boot. Since I spend little time at 100 plus in my MDX, the one place the BMW clearly rules is infrequently used. I saw a ZDX in the showroom. It reminded me of the Infinit FX I once rented in Montana. (yes, dreams do come true). I had no idea why a fleet of FX were there, unless it was some sort of test fleet. The FX 35 rocked in Montana. I can't claim to know what the gas mileage was, but it was a lot of fun. Sits real well at triple digits. Still, for all that size, you had four seats and no trunk-that luxury coupe the ZDX intender otherwise buys has a bigger trunk, gets better mileage, and unless you love the SUV look, is just cooler. The FX made me think the G was worthy. The ZDX has no such resonance, even though I know the TL is also worthy.
I find it sad that the ZDX was the result of THREE YEARS WORK!!! You'd think that after working on a design for three years, they'd know how flawed of a design it was. The automotive equivalent to a high-heeled open-toed work boot that costs way too much. On a separate note, Michelle Christensen is married to the guy who designed the Honda FC Sport http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/gallery.php/?g2_view=largephotos.Largephotos&g2_itemId=4912 http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/young-acura-designer-watches-her-baby-arrive/
How many Tourages did VW sell or for that matter X6?
Sometimes copying a competitor is a form of flattery. In this particular case, Honda big whigs should have stuck to that extra bottle of sake and passed out. The ZDX was a bad move. Honda knows how to do one thing really well. Build cars in numbers. It isn't very good in filling the niche market. That should be left to the German, Italian and British. Not only do they have the know how, they have the brand cache and "premium" dealer network. Having owned an RL, I never felt like any dealer I visited ever met up to the $50,000 price tag, let alone the $55k+ of the ZDX. With that said, I'd recommend Acura sell off the remainder of the ZDX's and instead focus efforts on the TSX and TL.