Wavehogger

http://www.acuraboard.com/2009/03/ac...ry-2009-sales/



Although Acura's overall sales went down from -32.4 to -39.0%, at least the TL went up from 2317 to 2490. The bright side of things.

KeithL

And they are back to beating the G sedan but a hair, but at least they are beating it now. I suspect the extremely attractive rebates on the left over G helped give Infiniti the edge through January. Now that both TL and G are mostly just 09s that edge is gone.

TSX69

I think that the 2009 TL is doing OK despite how much gloom & doom people were predicting before hand. The TL could be doing better tho, considering that it used to me the class leader. I suspect that a lot of potential TL buyers walked away w/ a TSX instead based upon today's economy.

I wonder if Acura actually anticipated lower sales? They clearly moved the TL upmarket somewhere b/n the 3 Series/C Class & 5 Series/E Class ... & of course the mid-level luxury sales are lower than the entry-level so maybe a reduction in sales was inevitable?

I doubt that the upcoming manual will increase sales significantly & the 2010 v6 TSX might actually reduce sales ... so I think that this generation TL will stay in the middle of the pack.

pahns5

It may be beating the G by a hair but this is and has always been Acura's bread and butter car, overall sales are disapointing. I don't think this gen will be as sucessful as the gen 3 in sales. Not because it moved slightly up market, but because Acura has turned some buyers off with the new look.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

I don't think it has anything to do with the new look. It has to do with the economy.

PetesTL

New look, bad economy, and the credit crisis all are contributing to the slow sales. I predict the 2010 models will be much more successful once the economy recovers and people have become accustomed to the new look. Still way too early to judge the 4G's overall success right now.

Legend2TL

, I agree it's still too early to judge the 4G. However I would be surprised if I don't see a mild front end redesign for 2010. The economy is affecting virtually every auto maker with the exception of very high end (ie Ferrari,...).

tlinsc

...and Subaru

Legend2TL

I was curious

http://www.auto-mobi.info/index.php?...6490&Itemid=50

The 2G TSX and lastest gen Forester design teams should get bonuses

DrEvil777

The economy is bad enough that several doctors in my office have traded in their cars and down-graded. Once went from a E500 to a C300, another a 750IL to a 530 and another is threatening to turn in her Volvo SUV and get a honda CR-V. Those are bad economic indicators...

vybzkartel

Why don't people ever take into account that the G, and 3-series, come in sedan, coupe, and cabrio form? The TL only come in one! How many G sedans, and 3-series sedans were sold? Even the A5 #s are added to the A4's!

pahns5

I would like to see some of those Merc and BMW owners who are down-grading come over to Acura. That's the part of the market Acura should be after now. Would somebody who has a E500 be happy with a RL or TL? Perhaps, but could you keep them as loyal customers when the economy comes back, or would they go back to MERC and BMW.....

cp3117

Some people here do take it into account and show the breakdown.

When the auto industry generally releases their numbers they release the general numbers for the class of their car. Why should the numbers be changed because the other manufacturers provide more choice in their lineup (ie, coupe, cabrio, sedan) compared to Acura.

If Acura actually provided more choice for the consumer they would also have their numbers higher. Personally i dont think the stats should be manipulated like some do here to Acura's advantage to make the TL look better in sales. I would hope in turn Acura would expand and offer a coupe or convertible in the future. If so they would sure spark my interest even more.

cp3117

I agree....

I am seeing more people every month that i know in the oil and real estate business downgrading their 7 or 5 series, CLS's etc for C-class, A4's etc. It is an unfortunate indicator of the times.

IMO. I think that obviously the economy is having a factor on the 4G and styling is having a small factor also. The bigger reason i think is the jump in the price category compared to the typical consumer for the TL. The price has jumped up into the higher premium brands and the consumer in those price ranges have more choice now being the value of the TL isnt as great compared to the competition compared to what the 3G was.

As others have mentioned the 4G has taken a big hit for Acura being it use to be the bread and butter car but at least the sales have improved this month for the 4G.

Here in Canada its very interesting to see the sales results for premium brands. Acura has taken a huge hit which generally Acura is very strong in Canada. OTOH the German luxury brands are showing increases in sales compared to decreases in Japanese luxury brands.

http://www.desrosiers.ca/Monthly%20Updates/sales.pdf

SSFTSX

FWD Maxima has edged out TL. Nissan sells less vehicles but they are more pricer now.

VTEC Racer

The Maxima also outsold every car in Audi's lineup, which the TL did also.

SSFTSX

Audi are more expensive than TL/Maxima. I doubt Acura manage even 200 TL-Sh-AWD in a month. as discounted RL is gaining more interest.

VTEC Racer

Well it's a good things your "Doubts" have never held any importance.

What makes you think that the RL is gaining more interest when it sold less units in February than it did in January? Lets see some support.

Audioholics

I spoke to an Acura salesman yesterday when I had my TLS in for service. He said sales on the new TL are grim. He said in this economy it was a bad move for Acura to upscale the TL to a higher price level and that virtually everyone looking at the car was turned off by its looks. They are now painting the front and rear bumpers as a courtesy. When he saw my kbp 07 TLS he smiled and told me I should hold onto that car for a long time.

I considered getting a 4G via lease but the looks and complex dash just didn't agree with me. Thus I went out and bought a used TLS. The economy had little to do with my decision. Food for thought.

KeithL

In my posts I have only ever comapred the TL to the G Sedan. The G Sedan far outsold the TL the last 2 months, but based on this months numbers was probably due to heavy incentives and alreg 08 inventory of G Sedans. The TL at it's peak if I recall sold like 70K cars a year.

'06 Anthracite TL

But at the same time, the Maxima's year-over-year decline was greater.

'06 Anthracite TL

These numbers are from Nissan North America. Are they just US or do they include Canada?

PetesTL

I haven't seen a single new RL out on the road since it's redesign. I wouldn't be surprised if Acura decides to discontinue the 2010 model and wait for 2011.

KeithL

I have seen one on the road a few months back and that was it.

CL6

Nah they go to CPO.

CraigMacDTA

As an Acura sales rep, I'd actually embrace that idea! Just fuckin' close up shop on those suckers. I swear to gawd, at least once a week, someone in the showroom will ask me "so what's the big difference between the RL and TL SH-AWD?"....I always chuckle to myself before answering cuz the monetary difference between the Tech SH-AWD TL and RL is $15,000 in Canada...seriously such a useless vehicle the way it is.

SSFTSX

If RL had similar price as TL-SHAWD. there would be alot more sales of it. and as long as it is based on Honda Legend. it will be continued to offer around the world. There is no evidence TL-SHAWD is outselling RL by big margin despite $6 to $10k price difference.


I predicted Audi will surpass BMW and Audi has Supercar/SUV in its line up. VW group has the largest vehicles in Motortrend Top 40 vehicles.


How can my analysis be wrong? Honda will have no where else to go but Japanese government. Two quarters of negative growth and it is done.

VTEC Racer

LOL. Wow. Only on auto industry analyst such as yourself would be able to figure that out. If the A6 had a price that was similar to the A4, it would sell a lot more also. If the S550 was priced like a C-Class, it would probably be the best selling car in the luxury world!

The RL sold 186 units in February. Acura has estimated that 20% of TL sales will be SH-AWD. With 2,490 TL's sold in February, according to Acura's estimate, that would mean around 500 of those were with SH-AWD. That puts it about two SH-AWD models sold per dealer for the month of February which is very realistic. That also means that the TL SH-AWD is selling almost 270% better than the RL. Is that not a big enough margin for you?

Feel free to support your claim anytime though. The RL sold more in January than it did in February. The TL sold more in February than it did in January. All the data goes against your entire claim.

What does this have to do with any of the posts that anyone here posted, in this thread, on this forum, right here?

My oh my how quickly you forget... http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_312592.html

Again, I'm basing my posts off of data and you are basing yours off of, well, nothing.

SSFTSX

Nope. These cars are not of same size and engine capacity. And even if u take AMG C class it does not outsell S Class. RL and TL SH-AWD are pretty much the same in size/performance/fuel economy.


20% TL-SHAWD is pure non sense. Show me a single Acura dealer which has 20% TL-SH-AWD in inventory?
Show me single new Luxury model which has close to 40% sales decline yoy except TL. G/RL are not new models but updates of 4 years old cars. Even Maxima went upmarket and it lacks AWD. Only reason TL has new signifcant feature is 3.7L engine & SH-AWD and its sales are?


You brought that TL sales outsells Audi A4 not withstanding A4 has the smallest percentage decline and car has moved significantly upmarket more in RL class. My predicitions comes true. Just stay tune.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

G decreased by over 47%
http://www.autospies.com/news/Nissan...ebruary-41617/

You are right, it's not even close to 40% sales decline, it's more like 50%. Are you going to tell me it's not a brand "new models but updates of 4 years old cars"? Hmm..what are some other "new luxury" models then? The only ones I could think of are TL and A4.

One could also argue the TL has moved up to the RL class as well. What are you going to say then? It lacks certain options/features?

ACCURATEin

I believe there are a few things that should have been different with the release of the new TL

- exterior color choices needed to be more vibrant
- grille redesigned
- oem wheel design for base model is a fail. Needed to upsize to 18s and more attractive spoke pattern


These simple and key elements could have drastically changed the opinions of some potential customers.

VTEC Racer

cp3117

They are already headed there but so is everyone else in the automotive industry.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...EkY&refer=asia

(Cj)

(Cj)

You don't add anything to these forums. You provide no proof or facts to claim SSFTSX wrong

(Cj)

SSFTSX's point was that the TL is all new redesigned model and it's still not gaining traction amongst buyers. The year old TSX is even having sales increases and other all new models aren't faring as badly as the TL. Check what happened last year when the all new CTS came out. The TL should be experience similar momentum, but it's not. The TL used to be the number 1 selling luxury vehicle in it's class and now it's midpack (after an extensive redesign).

(Cj)

SSFTSX

You cannot separate A5 from A4. Just like you cannot separate Q5 from A4. Audi just give options and higher priced variants from same platforms. Look for the same situtaion in next A7. They are filling all the gaps from A1 to A8.
TL has difficulty in moving upmarkt despite all new design and value leader in its segment. SH-AWD are very small percentage of TL sales.which is not the case with quattros.

Legend2TL

The A4, Q5, and A5 are all on separate floorpans so they are not the same platform. They share a large amount of common components and drivetrain but are not the same platform. Hence it only makes logical sense to break them out as Audi has down in their sales table.

http://www.autospies.com/news/Audi-S...ebruary-41615/

Wow, A8 down to double digit monthly sales! A neighbor up the street had a three year old A8L (great to drive but misserable to own story) but traded it in on a 2009 MDX, so at least I know where one of the February MDX sales came from.

Legend2TL

I thought in another thread someone pointed out the TL was never the #1 in it's class but the #2 (BMW 3 series being #1).