Gojirra99

via motorauthority

Threxx

Is this part of their strategy... vague stirring press releases that talk about products that will likely never come out but hope that by the time 3 or 4 years from now is reached, everyone will have forgotten about that press release anyway?

Acura lacks badge credibility because:

The RL is their flagship car, yet it barely competes with cars like the 5-series, GS, E-class, etc... I say barely because it doesn't even offer a V8.

V8, again - never offered one in their lineup in any model.

Somewhat of a lack of excitement - their models aren't exactly Lexus ES boring to drive, but they still are far gone from the chassis, steering, suspension, and powerband needed to make german (and infiniti) car buyers lusty

Somewhat of a lack of reliability - yeah they certainly aren't bad, but you can be pretty sure if you buy an Acura, you will be making a few trips to the dealer for various annoyances, and you will have a few rattles here and there as the car ages. Why is it that a basic 4-cylinder Accord seems to be such a solid basic reliable choice but then the TL that is an "upgraded" Accord is generally rated worse in reliability? Heck, they're built side by side, and the TL has a higher production budget. Granted I guess it has more toys to break, but the things that break in the TL as far as I've seen are parts that the Accord has too.

Somewhat of a lack of refinement. When you think of Acura you don't think of a jarring cage rattling ride, but you don't think of a serene isolated and hushed ride either.

To sum it up, Acura isn't horrible at anything, but they don't seem to stand out at any particular thing, either...

I like Acura - honestly, I do... I recommended an RL to my boss and a TL to my coworker... but I can also understand why their badge doesn't draw out the emotion or respect that some of the competing brands do.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i really have to quote mike here... what's the point of this press!?

MoLexus

Yea this sounds familiar and also "10 models but the next decade". I hope they put alot of engineering and quality testing before they release their "10 models by the next decade".

dr Lu

the 10 models in the next decade was by an INFINITI exec...

but i think everyone is on money with acura ...i drive a TL..love it. but agree that their badge credit is nowhere near where its competitors are. However if they do what this press release claims it'll do..it IS a step forward in the right direction.

LexFather

Its utterly pointless. They should all be gagged until they bring out some products that truly shake up the segment. My goodness they had the NSX concept years before Lexus had any concepts and the LF-A and IS-F will be sold BEFORE the NSX.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah, no time line no nothing, what's that all about....

DrUnBiased

This is not an Acura press release. This is a news article written by the MotorAuthority.

We all, as car enthusiasts DO KNOW how to tell apart a press release from a news article, right???

LexFather

Maybe you need to read again b/c you said the same thing in the Infiniti thread.

Acura exec details future lineup

Monday 24 September 2007


Apart from Lexus, Japanese luxury brands still pale in comparison to their German rivals in terms of the number of models they produce. As demand for premium cars continue skywards, execs at both Infiniti and Acura are keen to see product lines expanded. One Infiniti exec revealed his company was planning to have ’10 or so’ models by early next decade and now Acura’s product planning manager John Watts has revealed plans for several possible new models.

Some of the cars Watts hinted at include a new coupe to replace the original Acura CL that was dropped after the 2003 model. Other options include a retractable hardtop as well as a RWD V8 sedan. The car on everybody’s lips, however, is the replacement for the NSX supercar, which was previewed in concept form last year and is due to hit the streets in 2010 or 2011.

One of its main problems is a lack of badge-cred. In a recent interview with Automotive News, Acura’s executive vice president John Mendel explained that “as a brand, Acura is not there yet.” 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.


So okay, its not a press release, but its more "blah blah blah" from executives from BOTH companies, thus this article.

If they didn't SAY it, there would be no article.

carguy101

"blah blah blah" comes from ALL companies, including Toyota.

Toyota's been talking about wanting to be more sporty for years. But it still doesn't have a single real sports car in its lineup. Which is pathetic for such a huge car company.

DrUnBiased

The bold and highlighted are remarks that the company executives made during an interview. More than likely a little rep from the MotorAuthority just caught J. Mendell at one of the recent autoshows and just asked a few questions and this is what they came up with. That is usually how ALL these news articles are produced. They take a short 30 second interview and turn it into a one page article. It happens all the time with ALL companies. Now I'm sure you do know how to tell apart a news article from a press release.

LexFather

We are not TALKING ABOUT TOYOTA. We are talking about Acura in this thread.

Acura makes great cars, what we are saying is, BRING THE FUTURE and stop talking about it.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I dont know what's in store for honda. Just a week or two ago, Shigeru Uehara,the long-time Chief engineer (father of the NSX, S2000, and all the Type-R variants) retired. If anyone at honda could make a car perform, it would be him. Now they have to find a replacement, which isn't easy because the years of experience that Uehara had can't be found from a college graduate.

I'm utterly depressed about this. Honda/Acura will need to execute their plans and not just do wishful thinking.

DrUnBiased

I will give my two cents wherever it is needed. If I see false information posted by anyone about anything, I will correct them. You don't see me doing that for Toyota because, well, this is a Toyota board. By the time I read it, someone else would have already corrected it. HOWEVER, you see me doing it all the time for Acura and Infiniti because it seems like both brands (along with a couple others) seem to repeatedly get misrepresented here on ClubLexus without anyone being quick to make the correction. If you think that I comment on everything Infiniti or Acura, then that just probably means there are a lot of people on here who post information about them that is incorrect. Nothing wrong with spreading a little education.

Why must you pick something totally out of the blue to throw out there in an attempt to make a brand look bad? I see it a lot and IMO, THAT is pathetic.

Thanks for the edit

carguy101

So? Is that against the rules? Last time I checked, this IS "Car Chat" where one of the primary purposes is to talk about other car manufacturers. If I want to talk about Acura or Infiniti, why do you care?

And where do I say I care whether you comment in such threads or not? If I happen to disagree with you, I will say so, within the rules of the forum.


Acura/Infiniti were getting flack in this thread for talking about future plans and expansion of their lineups. My point was that Acura/Infiniti aren't the only companies that "talk the talk".