Acura Integra Returns In 2022 Preview

Acura is tired of being asked when it will bring back the Integra sport compact, which hasn't been sold here since 2001. The answer, announced during Monterey Car Week and the festivities leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance: The Acura Integra, one of the two cars that helped launch the Acura brand back in 1986, is making a huge comeback in 2022. It will very likely debut as a 2023 model. Honda's luxury brand used drones to break the news in the night sky over Pebble Beach. The lights of the drone depicted what appears to be a compact two-door hatch, though with its boxy profile and pop-up headlights, we think this was more of a stylized homage to the original '80s Integra two-door (a four-door was also offered during the Integra's near-20-year run). A teaser image and video (at the top of this story and above) show a more modern Acura visage with pointy headlights and the brand's signature pentagonal grille.

We particularly dig the '90s-retro "INTEGRA" lettering debossed in the bumper cover just beneath the headlight it's a sweet touch. We get more information from Acura brand officer Jon Ikeda, who was the one who confirmed that the automaker is tired of people asking for the Integra's return and elaborated on how it decided to make the new Integra happen. Actually, the decision to bring the Integra was made about six years ago, Ikeda confesses. He would not say what platform it uses, where it will be built, or much other detail. But it is expected to be electrified to some extent that is the future of Acura. It will likely be a hybrid as opposed to a pure EV. And it will be fun to drive, which would be appropriate, given the Integra's historical DNA. Oh, and while the original Integra was not all-wheel drive it was instead a very smart-handling front-driver—we expect the 2022 Integra to be AWD. We assume that, like previous Integras, the new one will be a compact, sporty vehicle; possibly it will be a coupe, though we're purely speculating at this point. The right time to bring it back is now, Ikeda says, as Acura works to return to its roots as a performance brand and has been expanding its Type S offerings (TLX, MDX, and now the NSX). And there will be a hole in the halo category with the 2022 NSX Type S capping the current NSX sports car's run as the brand's performance north star. After the Type S, no more NSX. Brand aficionados specifically and car enthusiasts generally remember Integra and there are good feelings behind it, Ikeda says. The new Integra should bring people into the brand, both new customers, and the nostalgic. "It will live up to the hype," Ikeda notes. The new Integra is not a replacement for the Acura ILX compact sedan—which departs after the '22 model year—the brand chief says. But it is an addition to the existing lineup that does seem to fill the segment gap with a much more exciting entrant. That means there's still a slot available for a small sedan, although no word as of yet whether Acura will fill it once the ILX dies.