i think because they are targeting the luxury consumers, but not the super luxury consumers. there are plenty of people out there who don't want to spend for a lexus but get close to the luxury. i think that is what acura is targeting. they give the features, and reasonably nice materials, but not exceptionally nice materials....so they have lower costs. they also don't do state of the art, which often results in more recalls and defects. they instead use proven technology a little later than the innovators.

 

Then stop saying your going for Tier 1 and targeting BMW, MB etc... which is what they have done.

 

i think they are targeting those companies' customers, but not necessarily the same degree of luxury. that's the opinion i have of acura at least.

 

I don't disagree. I think in reality they're parsing the definition of "Tier 1" to refer to volume and not price / luxury. Targeting BMW, MB as bradykp points out means "stealing sales".

What an enthusiast hears versus what a business / PR person hears is often quite different. We might be reading something into these statements that isn't really intended.

 

What was Lexus thinking? They were thinking of ways on how to improve their 1st gen IS300. Keep in mind the old IS300 has already established itself as a good performance car. The 2nd generation improves upon it in almost every single way, upping the luxury and overall quality. It also helps that that the car looks miles better inside and out compared tothe 1st gen.

Plus, it's a Lexus. The brand itself will sell. Not to mention, the IS is built on a RWD platform and offer six-cylinder engines. Sure it's a tiny car but who cares? I've driven the IS many times, and I can feel the luxury and quality put into the car.


Acura? None of those. They really didn't do much with the new TSX. Performance isn't much better...the car doesn't look much different. And IMO, i think their interior is a step back from the 1st gen. The car isn't a huge improvement. Pretty much the same ol'. A very bad move on Acura's part at a time when Infiniti, BMW, and Lexus are improving upon their cars by offering MORE in luxury, performance and design, which Acura is still trying to figure out what to provide more of what...

 

Um, the IS300 had 215 hp, the IS250 has 204. Even counting the change in EPA rating scales, thats still a drop in HP. Torque dropped even more, 218 lb. ft @ 3,800 rpm. to 185 @ 4800. Heck curb weight even went up from 218 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 3,800 rpm. to 3435. I'd say Acura is doing exactly the same thing. Hopefully with similar sales results.

 

Thing is, the IS released the IS350 at the same time it announced the IS250. If they are following the IS model, someone clearly did not do their homework.

 

True, but car for car, the original statement is invalid. Still, I'd gladly give up all the IS350 sales if I could have and equal number of IS250 sales with the TSX.

 

Doesn't matter. Acura didn't bother really to improve the car much outside of making it bigger.

 

If Acura can sell the entire 1st year of production without discounting, they will have succeeded in spending as little as possible while maximizing gains. Time will tell if this proves to be a success. The 1st year is critical, in the second year the diesel will be along to help out, and there are rumors of a third engine too.