Acura NEXERA Vision points to the next Honda NSX

Acura has pulled the covers off a dramatic new design concept at Monterey Car Week – and if history is any guide, Australians could one day drive it wearing a Honda badge.

Unveiled at The Quail, a motorsports gathering, before heading to the ritzy 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Concept Lawn on August 16, the Acura NEXERA Vision is an exotic coupe that lays down an entirely new design language for Honda’s premium American brand as it marks its 40th anniversary.

Penned at the Acura Design California studio in Los Angeles under new creative director and vice president of auto design Yasutake Tsuchida, the NEXERA Vision isn’t just a styling flight of fancy.

The brand reckons its LED lighting signatures and design cues will trickle down onto showroom metal, beginning with the fourth-generation Acura RDX Hybrid SUV due in the coming years.

“We are using the 40th anniversary of Acura as a springboard to our future, with the Acura NEXERA Vision serving as the design language for future Acura models,” Tsuchida said.

So where does Honda Australia fit in? Acura doesn’t officially exist here, but Honda does – and there’s precedent.

The last-generation Honda NSX sold Down Under was, in every meaningful way, the Acura NSX built in Ohio, simply rebadged for markets outside North America.

If the NEXERA Vision reaches production, as it may well, expect it take a page out of the same playbook.

Should it revive the NSX name, it has a benchmark to beat. That final hybrid supercar served up a combined 427kW and 646Nm from its 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 and trio of electric motors.

Any spiritual successor will need to comfortably up the ante.

Finished in Matte Titanium, the concept has a wide stance, a long dash-to-axle ratio and dramatic dual-hinge butterfly doors.

Active aerodynamics including a rear spoiler that manages airflow across the decklid are part of the package and it rides on big 22-inch centrelock wheels – a first for Acura – wrapped around carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes, with forged carbon fibre used liberally across the vehicle.

Then there’s the party trick: ‘phantom lighting’ hidden behind the bodywork, revealed only when illuminated, with ultra-thin headlights and taillights inspired by Acura’s ‘A’ mark.

Inside, the driver’s seat is fixed and integrated into the floor for a grounded, low-slung feel, with the pedals and steering wheel adjusting to the driver instead.

It’s a black-and-white cabin splashed with high-contrast pink accents and sustainable materials including recycled aluminium, Alcantara and CircuLeather.

The Acura NEXERA Vision points to a new design direction for Acura, with its radical design ethos set to permeate future production models including the fourth-generation Acura RDX Hybrid – which isn’t sold in Australia.

For Australia, the exotic concept raises the prospect of another Acura-derived Honda supercar following the same path as the previous-generation Honda NSX, although no production model or Australian launch has been confirmed just yet. 

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