Sad, cuz much of it is so true:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/edi.../wither-acura/

 

im sad. just..sad. Acuras are GREAT cars for the money. Its the sensible mans car. You get premium quality for a mid-range price(minus the RL) I love Acura, and will for sure a few more in my life.

 

oh well-everyone is entitled to their opinion-personally I love my tsx

 

I was pissed when they got rid of the names, it was like a rebuke of their early models, so I'm sort of happy to hear that might have shot themselves in the foot as a result, but I bet if the cars performed like BMW's then the names wouldn't matter.

 

I'm confused about how this article claims that Acura is somehow losing. Whether or not people perceive them as being at the top of the desirable list, they're still buying tons of the things. The only "rare" currently produced Acura is the RL.

By and large most people I know who own Acuras will buy another when the time comes. I guess I fail to see the viewpoint that Acura needs to reinvent anything.

 

Well presumably if people could associate the brand with a particular image more people would say to themselves "I belong in an Acura" and they'd shift more units. Most people think now "it's a nice Honda!" which is comparatively weak.

 

When I brought home my TSX, my wife commented that "it looks like a Honda."

Kind of a kiss of death, IMO. Even though they are the same company, they should at least "feel" different. They often dont.

But with that said, I have to look at what Im getting for my $$$. That is, a suprememly engineered and assembled car that includes every possible option and for a reasonable price. I guess it doenst have the status of a BMW, but frankly I dont care.

I will say this...Im going to be in the market for a small SUV in the future. Im going to seriously consider a loaded CR-V along with the RDX. The fact that I would do that illustrates the point the writer of this article was trying to make I believe.

 

We just made that same comparison. Obviously, it's not a real apples-to-apples comparison (but many ordinary folks will still say so, which is case-in-point, Acura's ongoing plight), but FWIW, we wound up with a CRV EX-L.

 

Sad, but true. It has been mentioned on this board number of times, that for Acura to succeed there must be greater separation between Honda and Acura. And Acura's cars must be more performance and technology oriented. How ridiculous is that 2008 TSX still cannot play MP3 or WMA files? When my TSX was totaled last year I briefly considered new 2008 TSX, but got Civic to tie me over until new model arrives, because the lack of MP3 player on the TSX.

 

I still don't understand the sentiment that Acura is somehow failing. Is the unit losing money? Are the cars being sold significantly under invoice because they won't be sold otherwise?

Yeah there's things I'd like to see improved upon such as the lack of mp3 player you mentioned but that's a pretty piddly thing to sway your decision on the car as a whole. Acura excels at being a fantastic car at a fantastic price point. They're selling that way more than they're trying to sell an image.

Which is more likely to get you to return to a manufacturer when it comes time for your next car, a car that don't get no respect or a car that is envied by all sorts of people you don't really care about even though it costs a fortune and breaks all the time?

I dunno, I guess I'm just to pragmatic to see any problem here. I've been extremely pleased with every Honda product I've owned and I'll be highly inclined to buy more in the future as a result. I really don't give a shit what any one other than me thinks about my car.

 

I actually agree with the underlying sentiment of the article. However the article to me talks to market perception, not actual sales. I'll drive home tonight and see at least 10 Acuras if not more, so no problem selling them. So if it sells good, what's the problem? New buyers maybe. How many Acuras are owned by former Acura or Honda owners, and how many are lured in.

Case in point - quickly think of a brand and a car that are synomomous.

Honda - Accord.
BMW - 3 Series.
Toyota - Camary.
Infiniti - G30 (stretching....)
Lexis - (gets a bit harder...)
Acura - ?

You might pick the TL, but really are Acura and TL synomomous? Any more than Acura and TSX? I sold Acuras back when there was a Legend and an Integra. I think the Acura Legend was the kind of car you'd associate with Acura immediately. The whole switch to letters diluted that IMO.

So I think there's a point in there somewhere. I also agree about the RL. I love the car don't get me wrong, but I can't for the life of me figure out what's $50K about it, or why it's better than other $50K cars...

 

The SH-AWD is pretty bad assical. At least in theory as I've never driven one. The folks on the RL board talk very highly of it. The NSX replacement could be pretty f'ing amazing if it were to contain a lightened, balls to the wall performance version of that drive line. In theory it's hard to beat such an AWD implementation.

 

I have always hated alphanumeric names.
Even more now that people for some reason blindly perceive some sense of upper-crustedness with them, and almost every "premium" car company is feeding that silliness.
I really miss the "Legend" name.

Here's a great article:


http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-carnameplates.artjan16,0,2710426.story


...and I can't believe that even the name "Miata" has been dumped for alphabet soup!