Acura RLX Launches Back At Home As The Updated Honda Legend

Acura recently rolled out a revised version of its flagship RLX sedan. But the Acura brand really only competes in certain markets around the world. In other countries, like back home in Japan, Acura’s models are sold as Hondas.

So for those markets, the automaker has applied those same enhancements to the Honda Legend. That includes revised front-end styling, centered around the “beakless” new grille (wearing the big H badge, not the angular A), and encompassing new bumpers front and rear, along with new head- and tail-light graphics.

Inside you’ll find more ergonomic seats and silver trim. And with a more compact hybrid powertrain, the revised Legend has more trunk room, too. Honda also retuned the suspension for better handling, and added a wide array of active safety systems as part of its Honda Sensing suite.

The updated Honda Legend hits the Japanese market in Hybrid EX trim, complete with the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD powertrain, starting at ¥7,074,000 – equivalent to about $65k at current exchange rates. That’s roughly the same as what Americans would pay for a similarly equipped Acura RLX Sport Hybrid. And with projected sales at about a thousand domestic units each year, its anticipated volume isn’t much lower than the US-spec RLX, either.

That price, incidentally, includes an eight-percent fuel-consumption tax that’s still levied on the big sedan despite its hybrid propulsion. But because it’s built locally by a domestic automaker, the Legend isn’t taxed as highly as a comparable import. Japanese buyers will find a comparable BMW 530e iPerformance or Mercedes-Benz E350e will set them back far more at ¥8.1 million (nearly $75k). At the same time, the domestically produced Lexus GS450h starts only slightly higher than the Legend, from 7.4 million yen (~$68k).