ARISTO*7

never seen one in person but that acura el is pretty sweet

LexFather

Honestly, think about it. We are talking about a CIVIC EX package here in the states with an Acura badge. That is all. The CIvic doesn't have a luxurious bone it its body.

And there is nothing wrong with Acura continuing to choose to be the most downmarket of all luxury branded cars. That is their niche, cheapo luxury. People buy it, they are happy, nuff said.


But please, don't try to defend it. Nothing to defend. Its obvious its on the super-lower end of the luxury car buying spectrum.

Lexus understands the market. Their research showed a I-4 in a luxury branded car was pretty much laughable in the States. So we did not get the IS 200 but they stuffed the 2jZ to make the IS 300. Even the new IS 250, is a 6 cylinder. Europe is different, 4-cylinders are perfectly fine there. But in America, no way Jose. BMW stopped offering 318s and moved up to 6 cylinders only.

Seriously, Lexus is about to sell 300k vehicles a year, with the lowest priced model at 30k and its rare to find a ES or IS not at 35k . And prices continue to go up on all models.

If Lexus sold a 25-30k car, it would boost sales even more but why? They are already selling tops in the USA. It would only STRESS dealerships who would rather cater to upmarket customers and not fighting the Integra crowd. Also the cheaper the car, the less the profits for everyone.

Toyota has TOYOTA for that price range, not Lexus. Hell you can buy an awsome Avalon starting at 25k.

EXE.UCF10

iTrader: (3)

I saw one in Santa Monica a few months back....at the time I just rolled my eyes and thought "rice" believing it was just a modified civic with Acura badges and an "L" replacing the "X". I never knew it existed either....thanks for clearing that up Ryan.

UDel

I would not agree that Acura is not highly regarded or as highly regarded as Lexus to everyone. Acura is much more regarded amoung enthusiasts and people who like sporty cars. Acura is not cheapo luxury or the most downmarket luxury brand either. Acura does not sell cheap cars just they have some more affordable cars. A $49,800 sedan and $90,000 sports car is not cheap. Lexus may be more highly regarded for cushy luxury cars and coupes but Acura is more regarded for sporty luxury cars and all out performance vehicles like the NSX. Acura sells the most expensive highest performing "upmarket" car among the three upmarket Japanese brands. One of the reasons Acura has a market for smaller less expensive cars like the Integra, RSX, and TSX is because it was the first Japanese upmarket brand that most people thought was going to be a huge failure and they did not want to put out something too expensive. Honda was very small at the time and did not have any large rwd platforms or v-8's so it was going to start off with a v-6 luxury sedan and upmarket hatchback to see if they could sell higher priced cars. After seeing the success of the Legend and Integra Toyota figured people would pay higher prices for upmarket brands and put out a larger v-8 sedan under Lexus. I believe Toyota already had a v-8 and larger rwd platform for some domestic cars like the century and so it was not as big a commitment. The LS400 became a good seller because it was much less expensive and more reliable then its competition and developed a reputation for high quality at an attactive price. Instead of coming out with a large v-8 luxury sedan Honda wanted to showcase its performance roots with a hand built aluminum mid-engined supercar under the Acura name in the U.S.

After seeing the failure of the Q45 and the success of their Legend coupe and sedan Acura figured they did not need a v-8 or a larger sized sedan. The last fwd v-6 RL sold more then the powerful Q45 and older M45 combined so it is not just a v-8 that will sell higher end cars which is why they chose not to go too large and they did not need a v-8 in the new RL. Infiniti was not saved or became hot again for a large expensive v-8 engined sedan but a smaller inexpensive 6 cylinder sedan and coupe. The M45 is doing pretty good but the 6 cylinder still outsells it just like with all mid sized luxury cars, the 6 cylinder cars make up the majority of auto sales not the v-8's. The new more expensive RL has received very good reviews from magazines and customers often beating out much more expensive German sedans so Acura is able to sell higher priced sedans. The Acura TL is or just was the best selling luxury car in America.

Acura will most likely pretty soon make a v-8 or v-10 for a more expensive luxury car or NSX replacement but it will not abandon its roots in more affordable upmarket smaller sedans, coupes, and hatchbacks because some people think they loose prestige selling 4 cylinder more affordable vehicles. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Saab, Volvo, Cadillac, Lincoln, Infiniti have all had or are coming out with entry level below 30K cars with mostly 4 cylinders which have generally been unsuccessful. Acura seems to be the only upmarket brand to be very successful with less expensive entry level cars because they put alot of effort into these cars and make them desireable instead of just throwing poorly executed less expensive cars into their lineup like other luxury brands.

As for the EL I think the current one looks too much like a regular civic and needs to be more different like the previous one. I am not sure what the interior looks like which is very important with higher end cars. With the TSX the EL does seem a little less appealing except maybe that it gets great gas mileage and has a low price but it does sell well in Canada.

Chigga

G20 is not a Sentra, G20 is a rebadge Primera, which is sold everywhere else in the world with Nissan badge on 'em. the EL is a reskin Civic shares same drivetrain and all, but a G20 doesn't share same drivetrain and shares very little bit of suspension components.

mmarshall

Well...yes and no. I partially agree with you. They are basically entry-level cars with upmarket nameplates.

mmarshall

The G20, as you say, may in fact be a Primera, but the early 90's version sold here had a lot of similiarities to a Sentra. I grant you, though, it did not DRIVE like a Sentra. I was driving Mazdas at the time, but I was so impressed with the G20 I test-drove I almost bought one.

flipside909

Hmmm kinda makes you wonder who copied who :

mmarshall

Yes...but you have to look at it from the prespective that with SO many vehicle designs over the years, no matter WHAT you do, you're going to be more-or-less coping SOMEBODY at one point or another. Among all vehicles sold today in the U.S. market, perhaps the Cadillac CTS, the new STS, and XLR come closest to being unique.....and, of course, they copy EACH OTHER.

STIG

Pontiac Atazk would be another great example.

blustoneIS

wow! one time I was with flipside909 talking infront of my house and this black "civic" (that's what I thought!) drove by... nope I was wrong then. My neighbor has an Acura EL! first time I saw one.

Technics

I remember the first time I saw one of those. I was like what was that with Canadian plates?? I thought the driver threw some Acura emblems on their Civic. I went home, did some research and found it was sold from the factory like that.

flipside909

Yeah, how ironic is that, we see ANOTHER Black 1.7 EL but this time it had British Colombia plates on it. The snow birds are coming down south and invading for the summer!

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

Did Acura have the EL at the beginning?

Inabj2

I hate to nitpick but the IS200 is also a 6 cylinder just a 2 liter one.