Acura Sees Future Defined By Advanced Eco Technologies

[HighestOfHigh]

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. Overall image in the marketplace and status on the street have likewise proven difficult to develop. That's why Acura is making a hard push specifically to boost its image and achieve 'tier 1' luxury automaker status, but where many of its rivals like to tout the performance of their powerful engines and sports cars, Acura is treading a different path.

According to a new report, Acura is reversing its plans from previously wanting powerful V-8 models with rear-wheel drive layouts to a new focus on “advanced environmental technologies”. The latest information was revealed by Honda CEO Takanobu Ito, who admitted that there is confusion about what Acura currently sits in the marketplace and where it is headed. Ito went on to explain that rather than “glamorous, gorgeous products”, Acura will be defined by high technology.

This reversal of strategy has upset Acura dealers who have recently invested in upmarket, glitzy showrooms to compete against Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus. Some of the new models planned include the upcoming 2010 ZDX crossover, a wagon variant of the TSX due next fall, and possibly a compact car to rival the BMW 1-Series and a new hatchback planned by Lexus.

- Acura Sees Future Defined By Advanced Eco Technologies - MotorAuthority

 

[Osnabrueck]

I sometimes get angry thinking about what a listless bundt cake Honda has made out of its once healthy and desirable Acura brand.

Ok, Acura looks towards a future defined by efficient products and innovative, eco-conscious technologies - Let's just take this at face value and not take the cancellation of their RWD and V8 projects as a bearish reaction to the post-Lehman Brothers economy. If this is where Honda truly believes their Acura brand will differentiate itself and realize a competitive advantage I have to stop and wonder how they've come to presume that this is their strong suit.

For starters, Toyota has been hard at work greenwashing Lexus for the past 3 years, and they've done a very good job grabbing mindshare in that niche; the introduction of the HS 250h being a massive step in the direction of developing sincerely green luxury cars.

BMW is staking out the other side of the turf, and I believe their "Efficient Dynamics" campaign will make more and more sense as time wears on.

So where does this put Acura? A fleet of 4 and 6-cylinder cars an ecologically conscious brand does not make. And to that point - How do Acura's priorities differ from Honda's? Technology and efficiency are core traits of Honda's persona. Advanced Technology, however, is not Acura's wheelhouse - nor is that the overall perception from the man on the street. In the US, that bag is shared between MB, Lexus and possibly BMW.

And oh boy - That ZDX. I hope I'm wrong - But there's a big problem coming down almost every luxury automaker's sales channel in the form of crossovers that were born and raised for an entirely different, much more exuberant market, than the one we know today.

I like the sound of a TSX wagon - That sounds like territory Acura could steak out and make their own, if they package it right.

I can buy that Acura can build a future towards being a new kind of "Tier 2" luxury brand, with a different MO than the typical bigger, louder, more model that has been the norm for the past 20-odd years. What I don't buy is that "technologies" will separate Acura from the pack.