Honda’s CEO says the upcoming Acura RSX luxury electric vehicle (EV) could be made in right-hand drive for Japan, potentially opening the door for markets like Australia.
Speaking at the Japanese brand’s press conference at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, Toshihiro Mibe – Honda Motor Co’s director, president and representative – said the RSX Prototype’s presence at the company’s stand is intentional to gauge interest in the domestic market.
Further, Mibe-san said that if there’s enough demand from potential Japanese customers, Honda would consider bringing the production version of the RSX to the domestic market in right-hand drive. Such a move could also open up the luxury EV for other RHD markets like Australia and the UK.
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In a follow-up interview with the RSX’s product specialist as well as its designer, the company representatives reiterated Mibe-san’s comments around the RSX’s potential for Japan, hinting the car could be badged as a Honda, not an Acura, should it be launched in the brand’s home market.
“Just like Mibe-san mentioned yesterday, we are seeing the demand for the Acura model in Japan,” the Acura product specialist told Australian media, via interpreter, “if everyone is wanting it, maybe there will be a possibility that we launch it in Japan.”
“Originally of course we were more focused on the North American market for the Acura brand, but we also have a history of selling [Acuras] in the Middle East and China as well… We are not focusing on the branding – whether it is an Acura or not – but we are more focused on the product itself.”
When asked about the Australian prospects, the product specialist cheekily replied that “we haven’t fixed the side of where we are going to be handled”, joking that right-hand drive hasn’t been confirmed for production as yet.
Revealed in August for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Acura RSX is a high-riding five-door SUV with an “expressive coupe-like silhouette” that will launch in the North American market during the second half of 2026.
Acura said at the RSX’s debut that the production model would be the “first model engineered in-house on Honda’s global EV platform”, and spearhead the brand’s move “into the Software Defined Vehicle era” with ASIMO OS, Honda’s new vehicle operating system that controls automated driving and driver assistance systems, in-car infotainment and “other vehicle systems.
Honda has also confirmed ASIMO OS for its upcoming 0 Series electric vehicle range, which will start rolling out in Japan from 2027.
The electric crossover revives the RSX nameplate, which was last worn by the American-market Honda Integra under the Acura brand. It will be the first EV to be produced at the new Honda EV Hub in Ohio, USA, on the same production line as the American-market Acura Integra – which is a premium, rebodied version of the current Civic primarily aimed at the US.
While Acura hasn’t had a presence in Australia, Honda has sold a couple of Acura products under the Honda name in the past. The NSX supercar was sold in Australia as recently as 2020, with the second-generation model in particular being an Acura-developed model sold as a Honda throughout other parts of the world.
Honda also sold the first-generation Acura MDX in Australia between 2003 and 2006, a premium three-row SUV designed to compete with the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz ML (now GLE) of the time, and has also offered vehicles that were sold as Acuras elsewhere including the Legend.
For now, the first Honda electric vehicle confirmed for Australia is the Super-One, a teeny-weeny EV based on the N-One e: electric kei car. The new model will land Down Under during the second half of 2026.
The Super-One – to be known as the Super-N in some markets – has been widened and lengthened slightly compared to the JDM kei car, and is pitched as a keen driver’s car for cities, indicating a more powerful electric motor than the N-One EV’s measly 47kW/165Nm, and bolstered by the widened footprint.
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MORE: 2026 Honda Super-One – Kei-class EV confirmed for Australia