Chas2

Here we go again.

So while there is no mention of the RL, I think that we may be in for the fate of the earlier first gen RL, a long period of no changes until they can figure out where they want to go. They state one new model a year. So 2011 for the RL may be optimistic. The new model once a year for 2010 is the ZDX, for 2011 seems to be the Acura TSX Sport Wagon. So maybe the RL will be for 2012?

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...NEWS/911029995

SpicyMikey

Yea, I saw this story in the Automative News thread earlier today. Like I commented there, I'm actually glad Ito came out and said this. All that talk about Tier 1 and being like Maybach, seemed hard to imagine for a company culture like Honda. This may finally be the beginning of someone grabbing the steering wheel and setting steady realistic direction. But then again, I feel like I've seen this movie already. Probably have to wait about 2 more years when they introduce the new RL, and another couple products, to see if someone really has a vision for the brand, and, what that vision is.

TampaRLX-SH

Nothing surprising there.

At LEAST there is some admission that Acura has become a CF. I even read some admission to Acura being arrogant and losing sight of core values.

And while they about face and reinvent, return to precision crafted, value packaged, tasteful designs and silly mimicry in design and naming convention. It is time to return too a brand of intelligent Tier 1 alternative and less 'look at me too' mentality. The time is right. The time is right to return to its roots. The time is right to return to a LEGEND.

But what I find most interesting is the general consensus and intelligence in the postings to that article. Being outside of the AZ vacuum, it impresses me how the outside world is on the same page as to where Acura has gone so wrong.

For me, 2012/2013 is the timeline I need to see Acura return to it's senses. Otherwise another marque will be in my garage.

Chas2

Here is another article that may portend a hybrid RL or at least a large hybrid vehicle, after all, if they keep to the Accord platform for the RL....


http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/27/r...arger-hybrids/

http://www.autonews.com/article/2009...NA03/310269956

Chas2

This second article has an intriguing line that one could easily take as Toyota like system, but Honda tends to always surprises us with something different. Maybe the RL will be the new large hybrid vehicle showcase.

Honda's current hybrid system, in smaller cars such as the Civic and Insight, uses one motor. A hybrid system under development will use two.

"That is one major initiative we are working on," Tsuneo Tanai, COO of automobile operations at Honda, told Automotive News on the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show. "The motor will have higher output. There will be dual motors, with a larger battery that enables the car to be driven in all-electric mode."
...

Moving to two motors would be a shift toward a more robust full-hybrid system resembling that of the Toyota Prius. Honda's current system has only limited ability to run on battery power alone. Usually, the electric motor is engaged to assist the gasoline engine.

TampaRLX-SH

I vaguely remember reading Honda was researching an approach to have electric motors at each wheel. I wonder if this could be something integrating with SHAWD? It was awhile back, so I will have to do some digging.

Still I hope these technologies would be used to enhance a solid engineered Acura line up and not another foolhardy all or nothing angle to again confuse the marketplace as to WTF Acura is trying to be today.

Get back to those core values of what Honda is, and layer onto it something that makes Acura a step above. Enhance your base market, offer alternatives to cross shoppers and make Acura seem intelligent again.

neuronbob

Continue the discussion here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...385112&page=13

as that thread could use some RL voices there--after all, we are people who can afford "Tier 1" cars.

I'll add what I said in that thread.
Ito is stating the obvious. Despite my using that particular smiley, I think this is a good thing. It sounds great that Honda is finally admitting that Acura doesn't know where it belongs in the automotive marketplace. Admitting a problem is the first step toward a solution.

Here's the problem as I see it. The very presence of Acura goes against what Honda stands for at this time--dependable, environmentally friendly, reasonably priced mass transportation. As a result, there IS confusion about where Acura belongs....at Honda HQ itself. That confusion manifests itself in the product line. They have honestly half-done the whole luxury car thing. No matter what people here say, right now "luxury" means excess....V8 options, RWD, flashy styling.

Those are things that Honda has never really fully embraced, even though they were the first Japanese "luxury" carmaker. I think the first decision that Honda has to make, as a result, is whether they want to keep Acura going at all. If so, they need to create and MARKET their vision of an "alternate luxury". V6s as powerful as V8s, SH-AWD as good as RWD, hybrid as an expression of future powertrains, organic external style as an expression of the above....and keeping those world-class luxury interiors. I WISH I had an Acura interior in my Caddy.

OK, those are just my random ramblings.