States of Repair ? Japanese and French brands top international league table of car reliability - Car Reliability Search | Reliability Index | How reliable is your car?
Japanese and French brands produce Europe’s most reliable cars, according to new research by Warranty Direct’s Reliability Index.
‘German reliability’ is an oft-used phrase, but as demonstrated here, the country’s output as a whole doesn’t match up to its close neighbours, the French, whose cars as a whole are more reliable.”

https://www.toyota.com.cy/articles/tuv_report_2014.json
Toyota is the most successful brand in the 2014 TÜV Report for the fourth consecutive year. In the latest edition of the report released today by Germany’s leading technical inspection agency - TÜV, no less than 15 Toyota models were taking Top 10 positions and the Prius the number one spot in two categories for vehicles aged four to five years and six to seven years.

Acura
All-time record sales of the TLX, shooting well past the 5,000 unit mark for the 1st time, and the record breaking October sales of the ILX pushed Acura sedan sales over the 7,000 unit threshold. With a double-digit sales gain, RDX sales rose to an October record of 3,891.

• RDX sales shot up 22.4 percent on sales of 3,891 units in October.
• Sales of MDX remained robust at 4,405 for the month despite limited supply.
• Acura cars posted a 12.5 percent gain on sales of 7,783 units on the strength of record breaking TLX sales of 5,777units (up 18.1 percent) and 1,860 units of the ILX (up 15.0 percent).

Like the ILX on display here, with future sport variants and things, we want to really leverage what [the NSX] brings

LOS ANGELES -- Unique rear-wheel-drive platforms. Massive investment. A condensed five-year timetable. Global sales.

That's the bold strategy underpinning Hyundai's newborn Genesis luxury marque. And nearly 30-year-old Acura -- the senior-most of the stand-alone Asian luxury brands -- wants no part of it, says John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.

Despite decades of muddled brand identity and mixed success with its vehicles, Acura has no plans to borrow a page from Hyundai's playbook, or any other luxury brand's, for that matter.

"They're going to do it the way they need to do it strategically, and it's certainly not going to change our strategy," Mendel told Automotive News at the Los Angeles Auto Show this month.

Instead, Acura needs to play to its own strengths in the crossover market while squarely addressing its weaknesses in sedans, Mendel said. This means resisting calls from dealers to keep up with rival Lexus by adding a bevy of new models or low-volume derivatives to its lineup, and trying to generate more volume and brand cachet from a streamlined lineup of well-made cars.

"I tell them, 'If you had three sedans that sold what Civic and Accord and CR-V sold every month, we wouldn't be having this conversation,'" Mendel said.

Overall, Acura is having a good year in the U.S., with 148,098 vehicles sold through October, putting it in fifth place in the luxury market behind Audi and ahead of Cadillac. But its sales mix is dominated by its two crossover models -- the MDX and RDX -- and its midsize TLX sedan, while its small and large sedans are laggards.

Acura General Manager Jon Ikeda has said sedans are a priority that his team is working on right now. The first peek at what exactly this means could come as early as January's Detroit auto show.

"We've struggled, candidly, with sedans," Mendel said. Though the recent success of the TLX has been encouraging, he said, the flagship RLX needs fixing.

Acura sold just 3,413 RLXs in 2014, and sales this year are down 35 percent through October. But volume isn't the only concern.

The full-size luxury sedan segment "doesn't sell a lot of cars," Mendel said "but it tends to define brands." That means the RLX, and Acura itself, are measured by the technology and prestige standards of the Mercedes S class and BMW 7 series.

Still, fixing the RLX doesn't mean emulating those brands with a rwd platform or a V-8 engine, Mendel said. Honda doesn't have either anywhere in its global portfolio, and there are no plans to change that.

Rather, he said, Acura plans to leverage its strength in front- and all-wheel-drive platforms as they become more common throughout the industry. The brand also will seek to capture a halo effect from the NSX hybrid supercar, especially as its tech-heavy features trickle down into more mainstream Acura models.

Such steps are important for not only luring new buyers to Acura, but keeping existing fans in the fold.

Unlike the new Genesis brand, "we do have things to lose," Mendel said. "We have a very loyal customer base with Acura. So moving them and evolving them along will be important."

American Honda Reports November Car and Truck Sales

Dec 1, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif.

• Robust Honda and Acura truck sales continue on record annual pace
• Honda Pilot gains 19 percent as sales surpass 10,000 for the month
• Acura RDX sets new November sales record, climbing 7.4 percent on sales of 3,691
• All-new 2016 Honda Civic pushes 8.6 percent model gain as first customers take deliveries in mid-November
• Accord, Civic and CR-V remain on pace to top 1 million units for the year

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. today reported November sales of 115,441 Honda and Acura vehicles, a decrease of 5.2 percent in a month with two fewer selling days and one less weekend vs. a record-setting November 2014. Honda Division sold 103,197 units, with car sales reaching 53,900 and truck sales totaling 49,297 for the month. Acura sales totaled 12,244, with sedan sales of 4,461 and trucks reaching 7,783 units in November.

Honda

Strong sales of the all-new Pilot and core Honda models kept Honda on track for an all-time annual sales record, with the Accord, Civic and CR-V on course to reach a combined one million units in sales for the third consecutive year.

• Pilot sales climbed strongly, rising 19 percent on sales of 10,975 units putting the all-new Pilot on the verge of its best sales year since 2006.
• Civic posted an 8.6 percent November increase on sales of 25,050 units, even as the production ramp up of the 2016 Civic Sedan continues at Honda plants in North America.
• Accord posted a November increase of 1.2 percent to 25,566 units, boosting YTD 2015 sales to 320,501 units.
• CR-V continued on pace as the industry's best-selling SUV, with sales of 25,931 units in November pushing its 2015 total over the 300,000-unit mark for the third consecutive year.

"It is incredibly gratifying to see our customers embrace the all-new Pilot and Civic," said Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of the Honda Division. "We are going to race to the finish in the effort to earn a record number of new customers this year."

Acura

Acura truck sales remain on pace for a record year with combined sales of MDX and RDX approaching the 100,000-unit mark for 2015, while Acura sedan sales are up more than 20% in 2015, topping 60,000 units for the first time since 2013.

• Acura's athletic RDX set a new November record, climbing 7.4 percent on sales of 3,691 vehicles.
• TLX sales of 43,572 units through the first 11 months of 2015 has now nearly tripled the 2014 combined sales total of the TLX and the outgoing TL and TSX models it replaced.

"With the Acura brand on track for our fifth consecutive year of increased sales and our best annual sales total since 2007 we continue to build strong momentum toward next year's celebration of Acura's 30th anniversary," said Jon Ikeda, vice president and general manager of the Acura division. "We also recognize and embrace the challenges of an ultra-competitive luxury market as we sharpen our portfolio with products like the technologically advanced NSX and continue to build the brand with highly desirable vehicles throughout the lineup."