When Acura took the covers off its beautiful and tech-heavy Nexera Vision concept at Monterey Car Week earlier this month, you wouldn’t have been blamed if you saw it as another pipe dream with no chance of making its way to a showroom. But according to one of the most powerful figures at Honda, you might well be wrong.

The coupe stunned with its smooth but muscular design, which featured head and tail-lights that glow through the bodywork and completely disappear when they’re not in use. Dramatic butterfly doors, Acura’s first centre-lock wheels and a retractable rear spoiler add to the design language that’s intended to filter down to other, far more mainstream products.

Sleek silver sports car in a bright, glass-walled showroom with polished floor reflections.
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But judging by remarks from two powerful figures within Honda, the Nexera Vision is a chance of making it into production. Acura creative director Yasutake Tsuchida was asked if he wants to create a sports car based on the concept and replied with a simple “yes”, according to Motor Trend.   

Honda’s American CEO Eiji Fujimura backed that up, saying, “I would like to do this car. I would like to do it with an engine, personally, but we will do what the customer wants, if that’s engine or hybrid or EV.”

Judging by the sharply sloped front of the Nexera and its very compact dimensions, which appear to leave little room for an internal combustion engine, electrification would be the way to go if a production version stays true to the eye-catching design of the concept. The Vision unveiled for Monterey also didn’t feature a visible exhaust pipe, and Car and Driver saw it move slowly under electric power.

Clad in Matte Titanium paint, the Nexera sports dramatic butterfly doors, with the angle of the sloping windscreen melding straight into the line of the front end. In addition to that retractable rear spoiler, the Nexera gets a large rear diffuser, plus vents behind the front wheels and a forged carbon aero-channel fascia up front. Forged carbon has also been used on the rocker panels, inner door structures and rear diffuser. 

Man in a dark shirt stands beside a white futuristic sports car with upward-opening doors inside a bright showroom or hangar.
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The news on the Nexera comes hot on the heels of Honda announcing a five-year plan that includes a massive brand refresh which could see most of its models replaced or renewed. The vice president of automobile sales for Honda America, Lance Woelfer, said: “We’ve got the capability of making significant changes without what we would call a platform change.” 

That indicates Honda’s plan could use existing vehicle architectures that will be modernised to suit newer applications with a focus on electrified powertrains. The first wave of revised models will be new-generation versions of the Accord and CR-V, both of which could switch to all-hybrid power.