Overtaxed

I've found that Acura conjures up images of entry level luxury, and especially reliability. I found a lot of non-car people will associate Acura with their memory of the Integra.

Where I live at least, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus = "Oh, you're rich" and full-scale luxury brand.

Infiniti is more like Acura, in my experience, but more associated with "power" instead of, say, reliability.

nj2pa2nc

personally i bought the acura tsx because that is the car i wanted. i am the one driving and could care less what other people think. I also drive a hyundai. I actually think bmw sounds like some kind of bowell movement.

Overtaxed

Just as an example, recently someone I know acquired a BMW X5.

I told him, "Hey, that's a nice "driver's" SUV." He was happy and acknowledged that was its strength. Then said to me.

"But I think you made the smarter choice with your Acura. I had a Toyota that lasted me 300,000 miles, etc." (associating it with reliability)

Like someone said earlier, plus and minuses with each choice you make. It depends what is the combination of characteristics that is most important to you, at that point in your life.

Overtaxed

Haha!

Actually, I bought the TSX because I loved the way it looks.

"Oh my gosh, what car is that??"

"Oh great, it's an Acura! (Check: reliability)

"Oh my gosh, it's even a Car and Driver's "Sport Sedan" winner 3 years in a row!!" (Check: fun to drive)

Conclusion: "Oh my gosh, I love the way it looks and now I have found rational reasons to buy it as well!" LOL!

Overtaxed

I need to add an edit: I love the way BMW - "Ultimate Driving Machine" sounds though, even though I laughed at the "bowel movement" comment - it's just funny.

Mokos23

this video seems appropriate for this thread even it is about 4 yrs old

what's an Acura?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhK_yTtCgOA

wackura

Cool video. It makes me feel bad for having proudly owned an Integra. It's as if Acura took a bullet so that us common folk of simple means could have a luxury marque, and now that luxury marque is in intensive care recovering.

VTECMAN

I didnt buy the tsx because its an Acura.. i bought it because we cant get euro accords here. I loved the shape and the fact its a honda.

hans007

honestly i think the only japanese luxury car company that is really considered "luxury" is maybe a lexus. and even then brand snobs do not think it is up there with the german brands.


infiniti was pretty much absolute dirt until the g35, but i'd say it has a higher profile now than acura just becuase of the success of the m35/45 and the g35.

infiniti still doesnt have much of a large car as the q45 sucks, bu ti suppose thats better than acura that has no large car at all.

i mean the 2 cars acura is really known for now (especially now that they killed the rsx which they should have done years ago because the rsx is completely not luxury and was dragging the brand name down...) are the mdx and TL. those 2 have really been around the longest. The RL i'd say most people , my father included think is a boringer looking more expensive TL (which is hondas fault for basing them both on the accord platform and making them the same size with similar engine etc).

most people who are brand snobs im pretty sure could care less about sh-awd.

that said, acura was the first premium japanese make, but honda has more or less failed to make it a real "luxury barge" type brand , or a purely sporty brand. i mean as much as i love my tsx i know its not thought of in the same way as say a mercedes, and honestly i'm happy with that, i dont want to own a snob car.


i'd say the general public considers acura a "premium" brand (which honda is trying to move up market). though probably on the higher end of premium.

these are like, volvo, buick i guess, saab, lincoln , etc. hell infiniti was down there just a few years ago, and it is argueably still just at the top of that heap trying to get into the lexus, audi, merc, bmw land. acura, honestly i think honda is trying to get into that lexus, audi group, now that they are making the cars much different than their honda counterparts.

hopefuly the next generation cars are significantly different and acura moves upmarket. i mean i would not be surprised to see the next TSX start at 30k . the current TL was $3000 or so more base than the previous one. its a slow process one that honda screwed up in the 90s , but i think they will figure it out.

and people have told me i own an accord. and yes i hate it too.

AbovePrime.

Acura sounds prestigious enough, it won't ever sound like Audi or BMW, Audi's practically the German Acura, but with more class/performance/prestige/V8's/V10's. Acura instantly brings up Honda, but the name has a nice flow to it, Audi on the on the other hand sounds very nice, and really sets themselves apart from their corporate stablemate's like the VW Passat and the Toureg. You would never guess that the A4 and Q7 are based on VW's, without knowing a little about cars, Acura needs to set themselves apart from Honda to be considered running mates with Audi, BMW, MB. But it still might not work to bring the name high up.

grapeguice

Unfortunately, for Honda, many people are snobs about the European brands. Although, I think Mercedes has fallen back while BMW has gained in the past few years. BMW is one of the most powerful brands and has some nice cars to offer as well. This combination has taken them to where they are today. As for Lexus, the snob appeal is a little less than BMW, but the vehicles are very solid if possibly a little bland, but there are some performance based Lexuses that are being released soon that will likely change the plain image.

Also, I agree that Infiniti's image has been coming up recently. Maybe in the beginning offering the Sentra based G20 was a mistake because that was not a very distinctive car. Maybe selling the Integra alongside the Legend was a similar mistake for Honda's Acura brand, although, from the perspective of the dealer, selling a less expensive car along with the more expensive car makes sense financially. Maybe a TSX type vehicle back then would have been a better choice for the Acura brand. Yes, it's still a four cylinder, but the entire package is a step above the Integra package.

Finally, Honda is definitely taking the Acura brand upmarket by stopping production of the RSX and there will be more differentiation of the TL and the next higher model. Maybe the long awaited V8 will be released in the next couple years as well.

To me, Honda has made some mistakes with the Acura brand, but I believe they are going in the right direction with Acura by highlighting the technology advantage with the simplified yet highly refined interfaces. Maybe some more performance oriented vehicles would be good for the brand image as well. Lexus is producing the F-series and maybe the Type-R or Type-S series will be the equivalent performance vehicles for Acura.

wrussi

i buy an acura because it gives me the best bang for the buck. acuras are cars with tons of tech features at a very low prices compared to its competitors. i bought the TSX because of the styling and the fact that i wasnt gonna get the attention as if i was buying a bmw or a c class mb.

acura is seen as a premium brand because honda has neglegted a v8 engine and rwd model which has kept them out of competing wit the 7 series / ls / s series. which to the media and the public opinion are real luxury cars. the closest thing acura competes with is the gs and maybe the 5 series or the e series with the RL.

RWD three letters that can position acura where they want to be.

peter_bigblock

I also don't notice very many TV ads for Acura. Honda hasn't done a particularly good job creating separation between "Honda" and "Acura"; that separation is mostly marketing. Toyota did a masterful job of differentiating the ES and Camry way back when, and the LS was a true MB competitor -- it even looked like a MB. They didn't muddy the water with the likes of the Integra and RSX (wonderful cars, not good for a luxury image). People were told over and over that Lexus is the relentless pursuit of perfection, with a car idling with champagne glasses on it's hood in the background. That message has been clear and repeated a LOT on TV. Acura, by comparison, is sparsely represented on TV and is marketed as sporting and youthful. That's a tough mix with "luxury" -- only BMW has really pulled it off, but they don't have a "cheaper" brand. A BMW is a BMW.

davidspalding

I love it. He's right. Maybe with the "Advance" campaign, they can find that "idea" to stand behind. "Advance beyond your cookie-cutter, dime-a-dozen Honda." Wow, that's energizing, eh?

My own reaction to the Tess-X was, "What is that, it excels in being unremarkable, but ... WOW, look at the interior, very 'Euro,' not too cushy, very much a no-nonsense, driver's environment." Then ... "holy #*%& this is as fun to drive as the RSX I want, but with better visibility, and a nicer radio (little bit), nicer amenities, and less 'cooped up.' I wish I could afford one of these."

I did the math and made it happen. Frankly, I know it's an Accord in different clothing. I know it's made by Honda. I know that some of the parts are the same. ... I know that reliability will blow away the TCO of a comparable European car. I know all this, and still think I'm driving something a little special.

haro_bmx87

i think that some people might not think of acura the same way as lexus or infiniti because when most people think of acura, they think of the integra or the rsx. just little ricers and all the little kids that throw a fart cannon on them and think they're fast as shit

CarbonGray Earl

IMHO, prestigious can often also mean pretentious. I personally don't need that from acura. What they need to do technically, is keep up with the horsepower/transmission wars, keep giving us the technology, and go completely AWD/RWD with their top sedans (RWD I don't see happening though). Marketing? If you make a RWD or AWD set of sedans with great HP and great transmission choices, those cars will market themselves.

The TSX could stay FWD with an AWD option if it remains a small 4 cyl- Audi does it just fine that way.

acl06

I agree 100% with you on that one. I bought the TSX for the exact same reason, and not because I wanted an Acura per se.

As with Acura not sounding prestigious, I put a good deal of the blame on their selling of the Integra Coupe/RSX for many years until just this year. Other reasons include the fact that there is no true full size luxury sedan from Acura to match up against the 7 series, the S Class, and the LS. Engines and power are also another deal, because Honda just can't get out of their V6 mentality, which is what the other luxury guys are putting in only their entry level cars nowadays. There is no true super perfomance-engine out there yet from Honda either, since Mercedes has the AMG engines for almost all of their car types, BMW has the M series in coupes, roadsters, and sedans, and Lexus is coming out with the IS-F, and will put out some exotics out soon as well with this F type engine. I don't consider "Type S" to be an AMG or M series category.

Acura lacks in terms of car variety too. There is no full size SUV, like the Lincoln Navigator, the Cadillac Escalade, the Mercedes G Class, the Lexus LX, and the Infiniti QX. The new MDX to me looks barely bigger than a Ford Escape! A lack of a roadster/small coupe also hurts, since Mercedes has the SLK, Infiniti has the G35 Coupe, etc.; Honda keeping the s2000 under its name doesn't help either. Those are my on the topic. Acura does well in the markets its current cars are in, but if Honda can do a lot better in the luxury car department.