ostrich

The TSX has been named Car & Driver's 10 Best of 2004, it is JD Power's "Entry Luxury Car with Most Appeal" as well as the "Highest Ranked Entry Luxury Car for Initial Quality". These are awards that most companies would love to have. So, why don't we see these facts being advertised all over the place? Why is Acura holding back??? I just don't get it...

hbux

I think Each company have to choose one best car to be the highlight to represent them. And I think Acura choose TL .

jlukja

Acura is the Tim Duncan of cars, not the Shaq of cars. I think they strive for perfection with their nose to the grindstone and prefer other people talking up their product rather than yapping to everyone how they are the Most Dominant Ever or The Ultimate Driving Machine or some other crap like that. Just my two cents worth.

corbs

Thank goodness they're not Shaq! I like my cars well rounded and humble.

jlukja

Shaq is well rounded, and getting rounder and rounder every year. But, I'm getting off topic here. Did you notice my not-so-veiled dig at BMW?

1SICKLEX

My guess is the TSX is selling better than ever without marketing. The absolute stupid marketing I've seen is in Forbes or Fortune with the "New level of Performance" crap and I see a 200hp I-4 car with huge dual exhausts. Very tickling. I agree they should use the award winning stuff instead.

But if your selling more than ever with little or dumb marketing, I'd not spend any money to market it. Why? It's already selling well.

jcg878

With the earlier bottleneck on TSX production, I wonder if they'd even be prepared for the big increase in demand that a concentrated advertising campaign could bring.

jlukja, other people seem to think BMW is the 'ultimate driving machine' as well - they don't even have to say it !

SAZABI

b/c it rattles too much, and too much engine light coming on!

SPUDMTN

Horsepower does NOT equal performance. Performance is how well a car handles--how nicely it takes corners, how great its steering feels, how good its brakes are. The TSX shines in the twisties. It inspires confidence. You can put a 600 hp engine in a floaty Buick Century, have it do 0-60 in under 5 seconds but that would not make it a performance car.

Other than those few cleverly disguised digs, I agree with everything you say.

provench

You mean like Lexus trying to sell the IS300 as a fast car?

Marketing (every company) is about sensationalism. And I agree with SPUDMTN and I am sure IS300 owners would agree ... performance is about a total package and a careful balance to hit a specific market segment. One day folks will realize that more HP just gets dumb and gets you tickets. Now that being said ... I certainly don't think the TSX is the sweet spot of HP/Torque (mo powa needed to score big)

dabuda

well in the cat and dog commercial they say one of Car & Driver's 10 best for 2004 towards the end...but i agree, they should stress it more

TdotSSTSX

No, let's keep it our little secret. Fewer stupid people will drive it this way....

1SICKLEX

The IS is not slow. Just hella slower than a Type-S /TL/ G35/330. Lexus never said "a new level of performance or something of that nature". IS marketing was more tuned to people with "this is a Lexus???" in the ads. They went after young people with the marketing.
The funniest though are the RL ads "come meet the performance luxury RL". WHat??? Where?

Like the LS 430, they advertise the comforts and features, not it in the twisties. Where it might fall off.

provench

Yep - one of my points since it is no faster than the TSX ....

ClutchPerformer

at prov's new avatar!

provench

domn is gonna ban me

jcg878

that noob is quiet!

TSX0rz

they dont advertise those points because they dont have to. their current line of ads, no matter what we think of them, is apparently doing its job. when tsx sales start slipping is when they will shift their ad campaign maybe towards the awards and things of that nature.

1SICKLEX

oFF MY HEAD IS 300 0-60
IS 300 L-tuned 0-60 in 6.4- Motor Trend
IS 300 stick 6.9-Lexus Website
IS 300 E-shift auto-7.1- Lexus Website
IS 300 Sportcross-7.4-Lexus Website
TSX- Motor Trend-7.5
TSX- Car and Driver 7.2

I looked at Acura.com but could not find it.

gilboman

well if acura called themselves drivers cars or driver oriented company, then the corolla could be marketed as an entry level sportsedan and kia magentis can be the defintion of refinement and luxury. marketing at acura is not that dumb. :P

biker

Sometimes gilbo comes out with good comments other times not so good.

jcg878

Yeah gilbo, improve your insult quality

provench

Yep ... both are appox 7 sec cars ... driver's race for sure. Handling is close, but IS300 probably has the edge. They are both great cars I REALLY liked the IS300 minus the taillights and to be honest might have gotten one but the backseat was too small and I couldn't get over the taillights.

robert_tsxgeek

I think maybe TL has a much better profit margin than TSX ? I mean the TSX is very competitively priced, fully Japanese...

TdotSSTSX

Funny, only two things stopped me from buying the IS300 for the Mrs. 1. The taillights, 2. The way they have optioned the car as all or nothing. It's either a $40k car, or a $48k car, no in between. And my wife is going to crash it anyway....

goose25

Amen to that sentiment. There's no need to shout at the world that the TSX is a great car. It's like a sleeper hit from Holllywood, a lot of attention is garnered by word of mouth.

ClutchPerformer

Clutch, who thinks the IS taillights are ridiculous

1SICKLEX

Thumb rule of auto business. The more expensive the car, the bigger the profit margin. The more expensive a car off a cheaper platform, the bigger the profit.Considering the TL and ES 330 are Accord/Camry based but the TL is built right here, I am sure it is a very profitable car. Like the Caddy Escalade makes GM 25k for each one sold. When u get down to it, it's a Silverado pickup with a Camper. LMAO! I can definitely understand this.

observer

The truth will be known, even without advertisement. Let's say you're trying to impress some girl (or guy, for that matter). Do you think she (or he) will be more impressed if you advertise your good qualities up front or for her to discover herself?

Stokeless_TSX

the IS also has 2 more cylinders than the TSX as well....

TdotSSTSX

I don't know if any of you are golfers, but golf maazines are loaded with TSX ads. The one I see most often says something like: The job, the promotion, the corner office...now the car to go with it.

It's all about demographics: Late 20's to mid-30's. Why waste the money on mass advertising, people who know, know.

And don't laugh about the wife crashing my cars, she once drove my old R into the side of our house thinking she had put it in reverse....

ric

And Automobile rated the TSX the best sports sedan under $30,000.......

I don't fit the demographics - I'm 55, am a partner in my (architectural) firm, already have an elegant office along mahogany row fitted with the kind of trendy furniture that architects insist on using, surrounded by images of buildings that I have designed and a corporate resume that is a short book. So, with that demographic, what am I "supposed" to drive? As a designer, it is assumed that I am eccentric, brooding and - well -"different" - and my firm has come to indulge me in my whims in company lease cars so long as my billable hours are up and my clients are happy.

That said, as a designer, a car is a design statement for me, and THAT said, I prefer to avoid the cliche response. I did a comprehensive review of the literature out there, and drove some of my other partner's choices - G35, BMW3-series, Audi A4, Audi A6. I avoided some of my partner's lamentable lapses into SUV's completely...........and left the minivan for the mail room.

I was actually prepared to go for the TL, which has a stunningly thought out body, and had a size that I thought fitting for my age - fell in love with the TSX on first drive, had it now for about a week, and the honeymoon has not worn out. It is by no means the flashiest car out there or the most exotic, but it is one of the sweetest, in design terms. Frankly, I don't care of it is not Everyman's choice...... the TSX met my firm's requirements for a four-door sedan and auto transmission while still providing me with some fun.

And I don't golf. My firm has partners who are paid to do that. Really.

ostrich

Speaking of demographics, I really wonder if Acura has got it all wrong - they claim that the group that they are going for are those who make $90,000 per year per household, late 20's to mid 30's.... now, perhaps this board really is not representative of the "typical" TSX drivers, when I read the other thread about our demographics, I remember seeing mostly people in the early 20's, making much less than $90,000 per year. If that's really representative of the "typical" TSX driver, then this focussed marketing plan is barking up the wrong tree...

Just like Ric above, I, for one, don't golf, and probably should have got a TL, or wait for the new RL, if I go with the Acura "demographics".... just food for thought.

tgrundke

Acura doesn't advertise the TSX because it doesn't have to. With every car being sold that Acura can manufacture, they have no need to spend money on advertising and marketing. It's a beautiful thing for a manufacturer to have a product that is in such high demand that they don't have to worry about marketing it - it sells itself!

Now, when Acura releases the new RL, you may see a big advertising push that will include the TSX. The rule of thumb in marketing is that you only need to advertise to do two things, really: improve sales and/or create brand recognition. With the new RL, Acura will probably launch a marketing campaign to show off the 'new' brand that they are becoming. However, if you cannot ramp up production to meet that demand, then you're just wasting your advertising dollars!

robert_tsxgeek

:lol:

osubuckeye98

Honda has always been very subtle with their marketing. You rarely if ever see them comparing their cars directly with other cars in the same class (The Accord has this, while the Camry only has this). They usually only advertise when necessary, such as towards the end of the year (special financing). None of that cheesy stuff I hear all the time on the radio and see on TV.

I have only seen one commercial in the US for the TSX...it's the one that has the TSX as the getaway car. I thought that was a really neat advertisement. Hope one of these days the TSX will make it into an action film!

Revenent

You've got a point there. I don't think I've ever seen a non-Honda car in a Honda commercial. Or even any being mentioned.

I wonder if they've always done that for all their commercials and advertising.

And I've only seen one Acura dealership commercial (Acura of Bellevue) ever. And that only started recently (within the past 6 months).

I wonder if that's part of the overall marketing strategy for Acura, or if it's just that dealerships don't want to spend the money for airtime.

sauceman

I think you have hit the nail on the head there.

Precision Crafted

Well I am not a TSX owner and I do seem to fit the demographics Acura listed minus the 90K a yr salary. I drive the TL. Had the first TL when it came out in '95 when I was 21 so demographics are pointless. Look at who is buying Xb's and Xa's.

That said, the RL needs the advertisements as it is a sleeper of a car. Nice car, good features for the dollar (lacking somethings right now but '05 address this (I hope). TL's, CL's, Integra's, and MDX sell well on their own merits.

I do not play golf very much but do see advertisements in golf magazines. Acura is like Volvo in some ways or Audi. I hardly ever see those very good car lines throw out ad's.

Maybe with the new RL the automotive press will once again report on Acura's "flagship" the way they did with the Legend. They all seemed to love the Legend and it also seemed to have more advertisements in print and on TV then other Acura's at the time.

observer

I don't think anyone on this board should have too much trouble meeting this figure if they were married whose spouse is also working Otherwise I'm suspecting you're spending more than you should on your car. (Or maybe it's just here in California. Over here in the bay area a small family can barely live off $90,000 a year I'm telling you)