Acura unveils 2010 ZDX crossover

tHE 2010 Acura ZDX adds a sport-focused vehicle to the brand's luxury SUV lineup.

The BMW X6 and Infiniti FX have not demonstrated a pressing market demand for luxury car-based SUVs that sacrifice practicality for sportiness and unique styling. Neither has lit sales charts afire, with Infiniti moving fewer than 6,000 FXs so far this year -- despite a fresh redesign -- and BMW unloading barely a third of that volume of X6s.

But that hasn't stopped Acura from giving the same approach a try, matching the established competition from the look to the X-required name; it unveiled the ZDX this week that will go on sale this December as a 2010 model.

Acura has yet to release full specifications and pricing for the ZDX, but said it will share a 3.7-liter 300-horsepower V6 and six-speed automatic transmission with the brand's TL and RL sedans and cost more than the midsize MDX SUV, which starts at $40,990. The Infiniti FX35 starts from $42,150, the BMW X6 from $55,900.

In a press release, Acura boasted that the ZDX will provide "a generous amount of cargo space behind the second row of seats," but the shape of the car raises the question of how much generosity it can afford without abandoning the eye-catching look that will distinguish it from Acura's existing midsize MDX and compact RDX.

On the outside, the new ZDX shares Acura's controversial shield-style grille but few other styling cues with the rest of the model line. A panoramic sunroof covers most of the roof. The interior is more familiar, following Acura styling cues that first appeared in the 2005 RL and differing little from the basic look of the other two Acura SUVs. However, the spacious rear seat of the RDX and MDX may be a casualty of the ZDX's steeply-sloped roofline; Acura's press release boasts space for up to five adults but doesn't say they'd be comfortable.