719, down from 1,117 units last year.
42.1% decline for the year thus far.

 

How does that compare to the competition? It doesn't mean as much until you know if the whole market is way down or not.

 

Audi A6 - 1,038
Lexus GS350/430/400h - 2,103
Infiniti M - 2,768
5 series - 4,315
RL - 719

 

Thanks. I guess what I meant was, how do the competitors numbers compare to this time last year? Is Audi and Lexus also down tremendously?
I'm gussing likely not as much as Acura, but just curious.

 

Mar-07 Mar-06 % change
RL 719 1 117 -36%
M 2 768 2 629 5%
GS 2 103 2 483 -15%
"5" 4 315 5 265 -18%
A6 1 038 1 699 -39%


I guess the incentive helped, but not as much as Acura hoped. Only thing I can base the M uptick on is the glowing Consumer reports review???

 

The only good news is that these numbers have been consistent since "The Plummet" in sales last spring. I think this is the RL's new baseline, to sell around 700 units a month as it has been. Better than selling 0 a month, I guess.

 

Do you have a link to this website where you can get all other acura sales or other brands?

 

That 700 is with the marketing incentive! I wonder what the baseline would be without it? 400-500? Maybe less?

The info is on press releases every month and some auto sites compile them.

 

My guess is that the M is up because they got the great review last November from Consumer Reports and then the April Auto issue basically repeated it.

Edmunds editors also gave it their 2007 "Most Wanted" for lux sedan.

If you've noticed, you've seen more "M" commercials, print and internet ads in the past two months - likely capitalizing on the good press.

 

Wow the Infiniti M35/45 is eating up the competition even better than the Lexus GS 350/430??

 

I'm an Honda/Acura guy but the G & M commercials make me want to get an infiniti. For someone who is not brand loyal yet, the commercials may be the difference. It's a competitive market, especially the 50K price range, and cleaver ads help with the bottom line.

 

Factory sponsored lease residuals and less RL's on the road will add to future used resale value. I still love the Legend coupes of yester - year and they are hard to find. The people most effected by low sales are the folks that buy a car every two years. My advise is to buy an RL and keep it for 5-7 years. The more I drive my RL the more I love it.

I can't explain why Honda let Suzuki have Ricky Carmichael's contract or why they don't do a better job educating the public on SH-AWD. Where most other manufacturers spend money promoting, Honda has always relied on the value and reliability to attract buyers. Get in the short line!!!

If I told you I could sell you a car cheaper and better than any of my competitors and that you could drive it for 5 years and it would maintain the highest resale value of its competitors would that interest you?

 

Again, I think the problem is politics between Acura of California and Honda of Japan. Acura corporate never really wanted the RL, Honda Japan forced it on them, and it show with how Acura under-promotes it.

That being said, Acura sales are down overall. Not even the Type S is helping the venerable TL.

 

1 can find monthly sales #s from various sources. Each company will usually post it themselves like at www.acuranews.com but 1 can also search fan sites where someone is often compiling the #s already or like www.leftlanenews.com. If all else fails, a search on news.yahoo.com usually does the trick as well.

Here is the entire breakdown of the RL's segment for last month:
5 Series 4315
E-Class 4019
M 2768
GS 2103
STS 1555
S80 1392
A6 1038
RL 719
S-type 479
9-5 369

Granted the RL is not the worse of the bunch - what is an 9-5 anyhow? Saab? It just seems really bad that selling the car @ like invoice & even coming up a with cheaper versions of the RL is not helping.

On a side note: TL sales are still down despite the refresh & Type S (ES350 is beating it); the TSX sales are pretty flat; the new MDX sales are not that far above last year's & the RDX is finally starting to sell @ decent #s compared to what Acura had projected.

Acura sales as a whole are down ~6% from last year.

 

The incentives must be helping! The past couple months of sales have only been around 400 units. I am not sure if this upward tick in March is normal or not. If not, I think it just shows the RL is priced too high for the market and the Tech should be priced around 45K. YMMV.

 

I will offer my fwiw,

March 06 was the highest month for auto sales last year. So it’s not surprising that March numbers are higher than February. Looking at year over year changes for March, the S80 had a jump of over 130%. This is natural for a new model release and I suspect sales will fall back off over the year. The MB E class is up 3.5%, which is so so considering they refreshed it for 2007. BMW’s 5 series if off as I think buyers are holding off for the 08 model. Once that comes out I think sales will take off again. The Lexus GS is probably below expectations since it is only second year and they put a major engine upgrade in the 6 cylinder.

Perhaps the biggest disappointments are the A6 and RL. The A6 is fairly new, but I personally think is already “old”. The RL is an anomaly IMO. This subject has been beaten to death so no sense in repeating. To have sales that far off last year with the incentive is not good news. Frankly I can't understand why the S80 outsells the RL, but that horse is long dead and beaten.

Biggest success has to be the M with higher sales in spite of some cannibalization from the G, which up a blistering 60%

As far as the S-Type and 9-5, I think they should bury the fossils and put them out of their misery.

Who knows where sales will go for the rest the year given the instability in real estate, oil prices, etc. My guess is weaker...

 

Indeed. Well-said. Acura has decided that the RL is not part of its strategic plan. I do hope that the 3G RL which, I'm sure, will be American-designed, will be "kickass" enough (and marketed enough) to make the brand whores look, or else it could suffer the same fate as the 2G RL.

 

I for one hope Acura doesn't rush the 3G to market...I just sprang for an extended warranty on my '06 RL anticipating a long and happy marriage. (First time I've ever done that, but I decided that $5,000 for a new head unit would really ruin my day. I put on a lot of miles so the factory warranty will expire at ~3 years for me.)

Re: the 3G RL or 5G Legend, depending on what they call it--it's rarely good for a stable and happy relationship when a tempting young thing moves in next door!