Posted on Monday 18 February 2008
Apart from Lexus, Japanese luxury brands still pale in comparison to their German rivals in terms of the number of models they produce and the prices they can command. As demand for premium cars continues skywards, execs at carmakers like Infiniti and Acura are becoming more eager to get their piece of the pie. Earlier today we reported about Infiniti looking at launching a new halo model based on Nissan’s GT-R and now we have reports of Acura dealers getting ready for a “huge shift” that will see the brand move closer to tier 1 luxury brands such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Speaking at a recent dealer seminar, Ed Voyles Auto Group CEO Valerie Voyles said “there will be a huge shift toward tier 1 next year, and the dealer body is excited about that shift.” According to Voyles, the shift will come about by the launch of several new models including cars that are unique to the Acura brand instead of just being rebadged Honda models.
The first of these new models include the recently revealed RL and TSX sedans, reports Automotive News. These will be followed soon after by a new TL model and eventually a new NSX supercar. Another problem Acura suffers from is a lack of badge-cred. To overcome this, officials have established a separate R&D team from Honda as well as a new Acura racing team that’s competing in the American Le Mans Series.
If Acura is really serious about competing with brands like BMW and Mercedes it will need to expand its lineup beyond the sedan segment and will also require more premium options such as RWD powertrains and high-output engines.
2009 Acura RL
Needs to have service on the level of Lexus. Had an Acura… bad experience. Went into a M-Benz dealership they were the worst. BMW dealer was ok… not impressed.
by the way this car looks really ugly.
Eh, Acura has always danced to the beat of their own drummer & I honestly do not expect that to change so I take this info w/ a grain of salt.
How can the article say on the one hand that Acura needs to produce unique models from Honda but then on the other hand use the TSX and RL as examples… they’re both Hondas!
Talk about a badly written article.
Acura looks too much like a normal Honda to me. Plus, this is largely irrelevant for people outside USA. If they want to compete with tier 1 luxury brand, they need RWD platform, more powerful engines and stylings that makes it seem like a brand by itself
Always hated and will always hate Honda so of course the Acura as well and forget about Infiniti too. Lexus is simply the best, trust me if you’ve ever driven one you’ll know what I’m talking about.