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.
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 (US$ 65k). 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 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 US$ 75k). At the same time, the domestically produced
Lexus GS450h starts only slightly higher than the Legend, from 7.4 million yen
(US$ 68k).
