In about a month's time, on May 22, to be precise, the new 2013 Acura ILX compact sedan will arrive in U.S. showrooms with prices starting at $25,900 and rising to $34,400, not including a destination charge of $895 (*).

Being based on the latest Civic, we can't help but note that the Honda model starts at $15,995, or $9,995 less, though in all fairness, the ILX is better equipped and comes with a 150hp 2.0-liter engine instead of a 140hp 1.8-liter unit.

On the top end of the range, the ILX with the 201HP 2.4-liter engine at $29,200 and the 111HP 1.5-liter Hybrid model at $34,400, approach larger German offerings like the 240hp BMW 328i ($34,900) and 201hp Mercedes C250 ($34,800), with the Hybrid being more expensive than the 211hp Audi A4 ($32,500).

We don't have to wait until Wednesday for the 2012 Chicago Auto Show to open its doors to the press to see what the production versions of Acura's 2013 ILX compact sedan and RDX crossover look like as the Japanese carmaker has just released the first official photos.

As we expected, the transition from concept to production didn't bring many changes on either model, just some minor tweaks to the bumper trims and the placing of smaller and less extravagant alloy wheels.

Starting with the ILX, while based on the current Civic, Acura has made considerable efforts to differentiate the compact model from its Honda sibling, both inside and out. Acura says that the primary target customers for the ILX are "Generation Y- successful 20 and 30-somethings moving into the luxury car ranks but looking for high-value propositions in their purchases."

We're only a day away from the official presentation of the production version of the 2013 Acura ILX compact sedan at the Chicago motor show but we've managed to get our hands on the patent images providing us with our first look at what has changed and not over the concept model we saw in Detroit last month.

Acura had already told us that the Detroit show car was very close to the production model that will follow so it's overall styling don't come as a surprise.

Like all production models, the 2013 ILX stands a little bit higher and rides on smaller wheels, while Acura also simplified the design of the front bumper openings and replaced the concept's LED strips with regular fog lights.

Next week's 2012 Chicago Auto Show will play host to the world premiere of the final production versions of Acura's all-new ILX compact sedan and the redesigned RDX crossover, both of which we're displayed in showcar form in Detroit last month.

The changes on the production models are expected to be limited to some subtle design details such as the bumpers and the alloy wheels.

While not as near as successful as its native rival Toyota when it comes to hybrid models, Honda remains a major player in the category having recently topped the 800,000 sales mark.

As we learned today, the milestone came at the end of December 2011 and was achieved 12 years and 2 months after Honda launched the first generation of its Insight hybrids in Japan in November 1999. For the record, last April Toyota sold its 1 millionth Prius in the States.

The first Insight delivered a fuel economy of 35km/liter (equal to 82.3mpg US or 2.9lt/100km) on the Japanese driving cycle, lending it the title of the most fuel-efficient gasoline-powered model of its time - according to Honda.

While the NSX Concept is the undisputed star of Acura's booth at the 2012 Detroit Motor Show, the Japanese automaker also brought along a more down-to-earth study that is the precursor to the new ILX luxury compact sedan.

With the exception of a few minor cosmetic details such as the bumper trims and the flashy alloy wheels, the ILX is pretty much production ready, which shouldn't surprise anyone given that it's scheduled for launch in North America this spring.