2003 Acura MDX Price Up Almost 3%

TORRANCE, CA. October 1, 2002, Alan Ohnsman writing for Bloomberg news reports that Honda Motor Co. increased the starting price of the 2003 Acura MDX by 2.9 percent, as the sport-utility vehicle helps the automaker boost U.S. light-truck sales.

Japan's second-biggest automaker raised the MDX's base price $1,000 from the 2002 version to $35,700, Honda said in a statement. The new model, which goes on sale at U.S. dealerships today, includes a V-6 engine that increases power 8.3 percent to 260 horsepower, the company said.

The MDX also adds a five-speed automatic transmission, electronic throttle control and an improved four-wheel-drive system, the Tokyo-based automaker said.

U.S. sales of the MDX, built in Alliston, Ontario, rose 29 percent to 35,104 this year through August from the year-earlier period. The sport-utility contributed to a 32 percent rise in Honda's light-truck sales to 264,627. The MDX competes with Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus RX 300 and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's X5.

Honda's U.S. operations are based in Torrance, California. The company's American depositary receipts, which each represent half of an ordinary share, fell 42 cents to $19.87 at 4:17 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have declined 2.5 percent this year.