LexFather

Another one straight out the horses mouth. They have invented a new term "smart luxury" since they dropped Tier 1 aspirations to be a real luxury brand as we were told awhile back.

It is also clear the CEO sees Lexus/Mercedes (and likely BMW) as the top brands to aspire too. Smart man.

Amazing they still seem to not know what Acura "should be".

I was right ten years ago and the CEO sent me an e-mail saying "you were right sick, you told us so".

http://www.egmcartech.com/2010/11/08...-not-top-tier/

It really truly feel sorry for those that made all those intense arguments in the past. All for nothing.

I have no issues with them continuing to be Honda plus. Again I think they should pull a Hyundai, drop the brand Acura and just sell them as nice Hondas ala Genesis, Equus since there is a market for them.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

As I have said before, Acura is really just a Honda "Limited" trimlevel. This article more or less confirms that.

IS-SV

Smart premium = more lame excuses, business as usual for Acura.

Interesting how he admits not targeting Lexus and Mercedes.

It's just another excuse for lack of premium car technology (and the list of what is lacking is still very long)

speedflex

Code for "We Failed". Smart Premium means what exactly?

-J-P-L-

Good point.

Seems to work just fine in Japan and other markets. Yes, America has this thing with needing a luxury badge to display their prestige and class, but maybe it's not entirely necessary. If Hyundai can be so bold, surely Honda could sell $50K models with their version of "H" slapped on it. The Genesis has done well, not great sales wise, but still successful. The Equus presents a far greater challenge. But with Honda's much better history, they wouldn't have too much of a problem selling premium cars at the same dealer. I would even say that what Acura sells in total now, would come close to being maintained. Especially since there are a lot more Honda dealers than Acura dealers. And, it would undoubtedly save Honda billions in the consolidation.

speedflex

That may be the most sensible option for them (Acura). The difference I see between Hyundai and Acura is that this will look like a retreat of sorts. In other words, the death of the brand. It gives the impression that Honda/Acura is shrinking while Hyundai is growing.

Not to mention the logistics of the dealer network. Do all those Acura dealers turn in their franchises and close or do they become Honda dealerships? That can't make them very happy.

-J-P-L-

Yeah, it's all easier said than done. I'm not necessarily recommending they go through with such a plan, at least at this point. That would be too much of a blow.

Honda's biggest mistake is not going all the way in the first place, in the fashion that Lexus did. History plays a big role in the ongoing success of a brand. Lexus, with the original LS, was great from their inception. Acura started in 1986 as nothing more than a Honda with available leather. The LS was a tremendous 7-8 year undertaking in an effort to build the best sedan ever. And along with this, the best possible dealer experience. Acura never developed that original foundation of prestige required for their future respect. So even if Acura now came out with V-8's and a top tier competitor, they still wouldn't be looked at as top tier. Just as the Equus won't garner the same respect as the S/7/LS it tries to compete with.

All Acura can ever be is what they have always been.

RXSF

who wants smart luxury when you can have plain luxury...?

Slvr surfr

iTrader: (1)

" They are who we thought they were!!!"

spwolf

I would guess "smart" luxury means smaller cars, like TSX being the focus... I dont care how RL drives, but both inside and outside, Honda Legend I tried in Europe did not feel like GS level vehicle. However TSX (Accord here) is good looking car for field it is competing in.

lexmenow

Then there is no reason to buy an Acura. Sorry its the truth. Buying an 2011 Hyundai Elantra, or Genesis is Smart Luxury

caddyowner

On a related subject, I heard a review of the new sporty Buick on WWJ radio in Detroit today. They said that GM is aiming Buick to compete with Asian luxury brands and Cadillac is aimed to compete with European luxury brands.

mmarshall

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.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Smart luxury doesn't make any sense to me on Acura's part... at all.

Let's get the record straight here, what makes Acura a smarter buy than Lexus for example?

Do they have a better resale value?
Are they more environmentally friendly? (Do they even have any hybrid models for that matter....?)
Do they have any more safety features than other cars in their price range?
Are they a smarter choice in the long term? (will they outlast a Lexus in 10+ years?)

I guess the point I am trying to get at here, is what makes Acura a smarter choice when shopping for a luxury car? It seems that there is no edge with the entire Acura brand...at all. Right now, it's just empty words that Acura is throwing out there in an effort to elaborate their pathetic existence.

jwong77

I think your shortchanging Acura a bit much, the development of the Acura Legend/Rover 800 was quite the undertaking. Though not as impressive as the development story of the LS400, simply calling it a Honda with leather shows both ignorance and bias.

Link to the story if anybody here cares. http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?xxstoryf.htm