ILX sales are below Acura projections

[baljet]

When Acura comes it without something that has the swag this had back in 1989-1990 ,it will sell. While this was just an FWD semi pocket rocket hatch it just had a nice look that set it apart.

This car single handedly destroyed Acura's image as an upmarket brand.

[uncleho]

This car single handedly destroyed Acura's image as an upmarket brand.

You're kidding, right? That car helped kick off Acura brand.

The problem is Acura could not communicate or decide what it actually wanted to be - ENTRY LEVEL LUXURY or LUXURY. And in the presence of Lexus' and Infinti's LUXURY intent... the ENTRY LUX that Acura was using failed in the midst of a booming 90s.

[10minutes]

And? VW's feel more substantial, ride more fluidly, and age more gracefully than other mainstream makes. Plus it's the only brand in its class that is German.

Someone please use this quote as a signature.

[koko12]

I've said it before and i'll say it again, the ILX is a very, very nice little vehicle, it's just $5K too much.

[MK5golf]

This thread should be renamed "Fan Boi debate 2012"

[baljet]

You're kidding, right? That car helped kick off Acura brand.

The problem is Acura could not communicate or decide what it actually wanted to be - ENTRY LEVEL LUXURY or LUXURY. And in the presence of Lexus' and Infinti's LUXURY intent... the ENTRY LUX that Acura was using failed in the midst of a booming 90s.

The Integra was too low end and projected the wrong image. It should have been a Honda and Acuras should have remained true to the 2nd gen Legend and Legend coupe.

[a2a4raddo]

The Integra was too low end and projected the wrong image. It should have been a Honda and Acuras should have remained true to the 2nd gen Legend and Legend coupe.

I always thought the Integra should have been a Honda and the Prelude should have been an Acura.

That said, the Integra didn't hurt Acuras image one bit. It brought a lot of people over to the brand. Acura was the number 1 selling luxo brand in the states at one point.

[Brimjolt]

because its ugly!!

[above8k]

because its ugly!!

Hmm...faulty mirror...replace it ASAP

[NoXenons]

Someone please use this quote as a signature.

Please

You're all trolls. All I will say is compare an MKIV to a similar year Civic/Corolla/Sentra/Neon/Focus/Cavalier and see which has aged better. Same story for the Passat as well.

[above8k]

LOL, MKIV was the worst Golf ever. Nose heavy and ugly.

[Mike!]

The Integra was too low end and projected the wrong image. It should have been a Honda and Acuras should have remained true to the 2nd gen Legend and Legend coupe.

But the first Integra was a-ok relative to the first Legend? What changed in the second gen?

[uncleho]

The Integra was too low end and projected the wrong image. It should have been a Honda and Acuras should have remained true to the 2nd gen Legend and Legend coupe.

No it wasn't. At the time nobody (except the Detroiters' Buick and Mercury, etc.) had an entry level luxury brand and that was exactly what Acura was created given their product. The first was the Integra and even after they came out with the Legend they were not BMW/MB level.

And when Acura intro'd, Lexus and Infiniti didn't even exist, yet. Conservative companies like Honda don't do things in big steps, and thus, their evolution of existing architectures and powertrains to create Acura. They were not aiming for MB levels of "luxury". They were clearly wanting to afford their loyal customers with growing wealth a choice in the entry level luxury market. They were wanting to compete where Buick and Mercury were lost and could not see the potential, but also give those yuppies without BMW/MB money a stepping stone.

The only failure they had was their strategy (while good) had no plans for the kind of wealth that was growing fast. As the wealth grew and their cross-town (country) rivals jumped into the game... their conservativeness kept them back. Call it Honda's entrenched focus on efficiency (vs RWD, V8s, etc.) or whatever, but THAT is where they lost it. And once the auto industry in the 90s started to see the advent of SUVs and even other sportier FWD products... Acura's niche suddenly became less attractive. Or at least... very weak.

Acuras are not anywhere near bad cars. They just suffered the inability (due to historical perceptions by consumers and journalists of what luxury is) to convince enough people that their brand was anything than entry luxury and that hurt, because as mainstream products evolve in refinement... the differentiation between some Hondas/Toyotas/etc. and Acuras became very small. At least in perception and partially in product.

[P-Body]

You're all trolls. All I will say is compare an MKIV to a similar year Civic/Corolla/Sentra/Neon/Focus/Cavalier and see which has aged better. Same story for the Passat as well.

1)Civic
2)Corolla
3)MKIV
4)MKIV
5)Tie
6)MKIV

There you go.

And do we want to play the reliability game? I'd figure every single Japanese car is more reliable today, the Focus and Cavalier break about as much but are much much cheaper to repair, and the Neon is a few notches below them all.

Who's the troll now?

[KahviVW]

I agree with uncleho, the Integra was not down market, but for a company lacking V8 powered rwd cars, Acura could not match Lexus/MB. At least Acura stopped their silly notion of Tier-1.

Interestingly, market conditions could not be better for Acura today. I don't see the old V8 rwd formula as necessary for a luxury car brand. Any company that can get the right mix of fuel economy, technology, refinement, and styling could become a potent competitor.

[NoXenons]

1)Civic
2)Corolla
3)MKIV
4)MKIV
5)Tie
6)MKIV

Who's the troll now?

Where does the Spectra fit on this list?

[uncleho]

Interestingly, market conditions could not be better for Acura today. I don't see the old V8 rwd formula as necessary for a luxury car brand. Any company that can get the right mix of fuel economy, technology, refinement, and styling could become a potent competitor.

Exactly!

It's unfortunate that they never saw the profits of the tier 1s back in the lofty 90s, but their original formula could be so right TODAY. They have the wherewithal technically (or can if they put their minds to it), but I think that inability to grow their brand image strength in the Golden Years of the 90s/early 2000s hurt them today. But then... they're far from dead, so it's a matter of marketing IMHO. But this market is a lot tougher today than the 90s.

They historically have the image for efficiency. They need to milk that cow dry!

[1985Jetta]

They used a good song for the commercial. That's all I'm gonna say.

[HI SPEED]

Maybe if Acura wanted to sell cars they would stop hiring blind people in peyote induced trances to design them.

[P-Body]

Where does the Spectra fit on this list?

A Spectra? Below the list.

Look, I get your schtick. Troll harder.

[Rob.]

Acura wont last in the next 5 years.

[above8k]

Acura wont be last on buyer's list in about 5 years.

FIFY

[50fridge]

To be fair a majority of cars that BMW and Audi sell do not have V8 engines. Why would Acura need to develop one. I think investing in a turbo or supercharged V6 would be a much better financial decision because it could be used in the RLX, MDX and the next TL. Also developing a platform like Audi's MLB platform could help them separate their line up from Honda. If Honda wants to make Acura successful they need to actually invest money into it.

[baljet]

I always thought the Integra should have been a Honda and the Prelude should have been an Acura.

That said, the Integra didn't hurt Acuras image one bit. It brought a lot of people over to the brand. Acura was the number 1 selling luxo brand in the states at one point.

But the first Integra was a-ok relative to the first Legend? What changed in the second gen?

The Integra was not a luxury car. It was an economy car. It had a 4 cylinder engine mounted transversely and driving the front wheels. Like most Acuras except for the Legend, the Integra did not hide its Honda roots well and there was nothing special about it that separated it from other Hondas.

It could have just as well passed for a mainstream Honda. It did nothing to build the Acura brand or contribute to improving its image.

[a2a4raddo]

The Integra was not a luxury car. It was an economy car. It had a 4 cylinder engine mounted transversely and driving the front wheels. Like most Acuras except for the Legend, the Integra did not hide its Honda roots well and there was nothing special about it that separated it from other Hondas.

It could have just as well passed for a mainstream Honda. It did nothing to build the Acura brand or contribute to improving its image.

Again, it brought people through the door....and helped Acura become the number one selling luxury brand for some time. Bringing those clients through the door is exactly what they needed as a start up brand....once In, they aspire to own a legend or an nsx and stay with the brand they so enjoyed driving, had great dealer service with, and a reliable vehicle. Get it?

Today (despite what ignorant tcl folk think), they are still selling in decent numbers ahead of Infiniti and Audi. Go back to the mid 2000's, and they were selling over 200k cars a year prior to the beak fest and economy tanking.

What acura needs are winners with the next batch of cars coming...new TL, new MDX, new RLX, and new NSX....all due to hit the maket in the next year or two. At that point, they need to expand their portfolio to Audi and Lexus levels. As a 5-6 car line won't cut it if they want to play with the big boys (mb/BMW/Lexus)

Offering an entry level car is a good thing IMHO. Doesn't always work.....but if the product is great, it will work bringing new customers to the brand. It worked for Acura, it worked for Infiniti with the first g20. Audi brought the a3 here, and BMW Floped with the 318ti but gave it another go with the 1 series.

[Mike!]

This car single handedly destroyed Acura's image as an upmarket brand.

The Integra was not a luxury car. It was an economy car. It had a 4 cylinder engine mounted transversely and driving the front wheels. Like most Acuras except for the Legend, the Integra did not hide its Honda roots well and there was nothing special about it that separated it from other Hondas.

It could have just as well passed for a mainstream Honda. It did nothing to build the Acura brand or contribute to improving its image.

The Integra and Legend launched at the same time. The second Integra that you say single handedly destroyed Acura's image as an upmarket brand preceded the 2nd wave of Acuras, the NSX and 2g Legend, and Vigor, but it didn't alter the formula of the Integra that helped build Acura's reputation in the first place. For the first 10 years of Acura's existence, the Integra and Legend were each about half of the sales.

[Avus]

The Integra was not a luxury car. It was an economy car. It had a 4 cylinder engine mounted transversely and driving the front wheels. Like most Acuras except for the Legend, the Integra did not hide its Honda roots well and there was nothing special about it that separated it from other Hondas.

It could have just as well passed for a mainstream Honda. It did nothing to build the Acura brand or contribute to improving its image.

I think Integra was like today's Mini Cooper. They are not luxury car. They are premium branded compact. Both "yesterday" Integra and nowadays Mini cooper definitely not compete with compacts like (old) Cavalier/Civic or (now) Cruze/Veloster.

Integra sales always did pretty good. And thanks to those retard Acura management though it would cheapen the brand, they cancelled it and gave ALL their customers to cars like Mini Cooper, VW GTI... After 7 years, they finally realize they were "doing it wrong" and reuse the Integra formula (create a more expensive car based on Civic) and here comes this ILX.

The "failure" of Acura brand definitely was not caused by the Integra. I say cars like RL fail Acura much more than a sale success Integra/RSX.

All generations of RL fail to compete BMW5/Mercedes E/or even Lexus GS
For 20+ years, Acura fail to have a BMW7/Mercedes S/Lexus LS fighter
ZDX fail as a X6 wantabe
Acura fail to make RDX popular even this SUV came out WAY before BMW X1 or Mercedes GLK.
Acura fail to have anything compete cars like Mercedes B, BMW1, CT, BMW M3, Audi R8, Mercedes GL...
Honda (parent of Acura) as a first hybrid manufacturer to hit the mass market in the NORTH AMERICA, Acura fail to have anything hybrid in their lineup (again, they can do that way before the German). Even Porsche have hybrid products sooner than them.

[Golgo-13]

i LOVE my ZDX

**** the haters

[koko12]

I'm so glad to see there is a gif of this already

Needs an 'oh snap' or something.

what's the story behind that?

[Mazda 3s]

what's the story behind that?

Hoodrat gets on bus without paying
Hoodrat starts spouting off and cussing at bus driver
Hoodrat punches bus driver while he's trying to drive
Bus driver says "f@@k that" and STFUppercuts dat hoe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwbl...e_gdata_player

Original

http://youtu.be/OmqUlXQCAz8

[DrewSXR]

what's the story behind that?

If you want equal rights, you gotta take some equal lefts, HAHAHAHAHAHA....hilarious.

[EQVN01]

Hoodrat gets on bus without paying
Hoodrat starts spouting off and cussing at bus driver
Hoodrat punches bus driver while he's trying to drive
Bus driver says "f@@k that" and STFUppercuts dat hoe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwbl...e_gdata_player

Original

http://youtu.be/OmqUlXQCAz8

Wow, cheapshot, I doubt Mr. Bus driver would've stepped to a male passenger the same way.

OT: This Acura should have been the new Civic.

[sandiegan]

What the hell is that thing?




NVM, Google and it is a Civic.


If that was to compete with anything what would it be? The Verano training doesn't say anything about it, but it is the same size and class as it.

[koko12]

Oh man the sound effects had me rolling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwbl...e_gdata_player

[Ross1013]

The brand really makes sense if you consider long-term TCO.

By and large they offer very easy ownership experiences compared w/European marques.

If you're just leasing a new car every few years, you can get more exciting experiences elsewhere.

Killing the NSX and Integra were major mistakes that they're about 50% of the way to correcting.

Acura models always have better performance and tech than their Honda counterparts, so the ILX 2.4 lacking the LSD and NAV makes zero sense whatsoever. They need to rectify that ASAP.