Honda CEO: smart premium for Acura, not the upper-segment like Lexus & Mercedes
11-09-10, 07:37 PM
#16
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No one can go back and re-write history (though some try to), so we will never know if Lexus and Infiniti would ever have existed in America in the forms they do now, had Acura not paved the way, in 1986, for a premium/upmarket Japanese nameplate. Even after Lexus and Infiniti introduced their divisions into the American market in 1990, they continued, for some time, to sell more-or-less the same vehicles, under bread-and-butter Toyota/Nissan nameplates, in other countries.....and the home Japanese market. The big Infiniti Q45, for example, was sold abroad as the Nissan Cima, and the Lexus GS as the Toyota Aristo. Acura, of course, also did, to an extent....they even rebadged the Civic in some markets, which, for a premium-nameplate brand, ws ridiculous.
No matter if Acura was around or not, Infiniti or Lexus were coming.
Acura was first, no doubt.
. We can't say they paved the way since Lexus and Infiniti didn't really follow them at all and I for one am GLAD Lexus didn't. Otherwise things here would suck
11-09-10, 09:49 PM
#20
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Lexus and Infiniti were planned in the early 1980s....when Acura debuted with their Honda plus Legend/Integra Toyota and Infiniti were hard at work with the LS and Q45 which debuted in 1989.
No matter if Acura was around or not, Infiniti or Lexus were coming.
Acura was first, no doubt.. We can't say they paved the way since Lexus and Infiniti didn't really follow them at all and I for one am GLAD Lexus didn't. Otherwise things here would suck
No matter if Acura was around or not, Infiniti or Lexus were coming.
Acura was first, no doubt.
. We can't say they paved the way since Lexus and Infiniti didn't really follow them at all and I for one am GLAD Lexus didn't. Otherwise things here would suckLexus = successful
Infiniti = giving effort to succeed
Acura = totally giving up and looking for all kinds of ridiculous excuses
11-10-10, 07:41 AM
#21
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any marketing droid that uses the self-praising word 'smart' in their marketing positioning, is stupid.
11-10-10, 07:43 AM
#22
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acura's going through a funky design phase and needs some new drive trains, but they're going to do fine.
11-10-10, 11:12 AM
#23
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They are obviously giving up to become a tier one luxury car maker, otherwise there wouldn't be a term "smart luxury". Also, sales don't tell everything. Acura has no rear drive platform, has no V8 engine, has no coupe, has no convertible, has no hybrid, has no clear advantage in any of its engines' output, has no dramatic advantage in fuel economy. What does Acura have anyway? As you said, a few funky looking vehicles with some over-complicated dashboard that looks and feels high tech. So they are pretty much rebadged Hondas charging luxury money. TSX is an exception though.
11-10-10, 11:35 AM
#24
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They are pretty much the Japanese Buick at this point, which is fine. But I think what TwiBlue35 was suggesting was that at least Infiniti is aspiring to have a full Tier 1 product line that directly competes against BMW, MB, etc, whereas Acura is not. They have "given up" their Tier 1 dreams apparently. Infiniti has all the goods to compete against the big boys, they just need a few more products in their lineup. Technologically, however, they are right there. Acura, is not. Not even close.
11-10-10, 11:50 AM
#25
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Infiniti has outsold Acura on a yearly basis? I would be surprised. It takes more than goods and product and aspirations to be Tier 1. I agree they are much better than Acura but they have a lot of work to do to even remotely be considered in that realm. Audi is now outselling Infiniti which was unheard of years ago and Audi has a true Tier 1 lineup.
That said I can appreciate Nissan giving it a much better try then what Honda has done here.
That said I can appreciate Nissan giving it a much better try then what Honda has done here.
Last edited by LexFather; 11-10-10 at 11:59 AM.
11-10-10, 12:29 PM
#26
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FWIW, on numbers alone, the Acura Division is outselling the Infiniti Division YTD by about 30%. Acura 107,399/Infiniti 82,727. About the same spread for the month of October.
11-10-10, 12:29 PM
#27
It's a real shame that a company that brought us such amazing cars like the NSX, S2000, Prelude, Legend, Integra, virtually collapsed back into a Motorcycle and Lawnmower company. I mean, these cars were at the top of the heap in the 80's/90s and now gone forever.
11-10-10, 03:11 PM
#28
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Not on a yearly basis, but a few months here and there, they have. I just wouldn't exactly say that Infiniti "dreams" of Acura's sales numbers, when they have outsold them a few months here and there. It's not as if Acura routinely outsells Infiniti by twice the amount of sales or anything. Infiniti's products are all in the middle of the luxury market. They need more low-end and more high-end product to increase sales in my opinion. Perhaps the addition of the G25 will help. We'll see.
Well, in all honesty, they really should be outselling Infiniti given their diverse lineup of vehicles. But regardless, the sales numbers between both brands are about equal. I wouldn't say either brand is outselling the other right now.
It takes more than goods and product and aspirations to be Tier 1. I agree they are much better than Acura but they have a lot of work to do to even remotely be considered in that realm. Audi is now outselling Infiniti which was unheard of years ago and Audi has a true Tier 1 lineup.
11-10-10, 04:14 PM
#29
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The Leaf based EV, possible sub EX car (I think they trademarked CX) and the sub G25/37 coming should help but not sure when they debut. Acura though is bringing a sub TSX model (basically the RSX is back lol) and we know the CT comes out next year as a low volume model
Last edited by LexFather; 11-10-10 at 04:48 PM.
