Acura: Sales, Marketing, and Financial News
#1121
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Originally Posted by Pure Adrenaline
Usually they sound like broken record players reading the brochure out loud. Being that I'm into cars, like everybody else on here, it was especially annoying.
#1122
Go Big Blue!
Originally Posted by Trackruner228
100% back this up. I love my Acura dealer they have always treated me like gold even though I am only 18. I have been told more then once that people have loved taking there cars there for service.
I think the reason everyone here thinks Acura service sucks is becuase its an acura forum so people are going to complain about there Acura service not there service at another dealer. Someone awhile back posted the 10 best dealers for service and Acura was in that top 10.
I think the reason everyone here thinks Acura service sucks is becuase its an acura forum so people are going to complain about there Acura service not there service at another dealer. Someone awhile back posted the 10 best dealers for service and Acura was in that top 10.
I've gone to Lexus, mb, and bmw forums and they complain about their service dept too. You can't use these type of forums as a way to guage something like that.
#1123
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Originally Posted by Moog-Type-S
When I first read the thread title, I thought it was talking about Acura being #1 in Service (ie Service Dept.) There is no way that would ever be true.
#1124
RAR
Honda delays Acura introduction to Japan
Honda has announced it will delay the introduction of its premium Acura brand to Japan by at least two years. The company was originally intending to bring Acura to its home market in 2008, but is changing its plans to a 2010-11 release. No specific reason was cited, except for the vague “[the decision was] based on a comprehensive evaluation of the current market environment.”
Both Lexus and Acura were started as premium brands in the US. Toyota introduced Lexus to the Japanese market in 2005 but sales initially sputtered until the LS was released late last year. Acura has no such super-premium model and will have to compete in the tough small-to-mid size market along with the German marques.
The fact that Acura had already begun a sales strategy and had started recruiting dealerships or the 2008 launch shows that the decision to delay the brand’s introduction wasn’t taken lightly.
Both Lexus and Acura were started as premium brands in the US. Toyota introduced Lexus to the Japanese market in 2005 but sales initially sputtered until the LS was released late last year. Acura has no such super-premium model and will have to compete in the tough small-to-mid size market along with the German marques.
The fact that Acura had already begun a sales strategy and had started recruiting dealerships or the 2008 launch shows that the decision to delay the brand’s introduction wasn’t taken lightly.
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/industry/honda-delays-acura-introduction-to-japan/
#1125
The sizzle in the Steak
Honda is waiting for the next gen V8 RWD Acura vehicles!!!!!
#1126
Senior Moderator
Ironic to think that the Japanese wouldn't warm up to their own homegrown luxury marque. As much of a nationalistic country as Japan is (I think only South Korea being more nationalistic among Asian nations), I would imagine bringing something like Acura to their market would be easy ... but then again ... how big is their luxury / near luxury market? Taxes there are insane ... but there's like 100 million people to buy cars there?
Guess I don't know their markets very well.
Guess I don't know their markets very well.
#1128
Originally Posted by derrick
Ironic to think that the Japanese wouldn't warm up to their own homegrown luxury marque. As much of a nationalistic country as Japan is (I think only South Korea being more nationalistic among Asian nations), I would imagine bringing something like Acura to their market would be easy ... but then again ... how big is their luxury / near luxury market? Taxes there are insane ... but there's like 100 million people to buy cars there?
Guess I don't know their markets very well.
Guess I don't know their markets very well.
As much as Acura has been a "failure" (according to some...) in the US, it actually has an opportunity in Japan to distinguish itself. Even the Japanese didn't have a RWD Honda that was imported here as an Acura (except the NSX, of course). But now we might see an Acura RL with RWD and a V8, etc...which the Japanese never had from Honda.
#1129
Burning Brakes
Originally Posted by derrick
Ironic to think that the Japanese wouldn't warm up to their own homegrown luxury marque. As much of a nationalistic country as Japan is (I think only South Korea being more nationalistic among Asian nations), I would imagine bringing something like Acura to their market would be easy ... but then again ... how big is their luxury / near luxury market? Taxes there are insane ... but there's like 100 million people to buy cars there?
Guess I don't know their markets very well.
Guess I don't know their markets very well.
I think it's a matter of people in Japan prefering something foreign as being more luxurious and unique. It's kinda like how there's a fairly small number of people in the US would prefer Cadillac or Lincoln over Mercedes or BMW or Lexus for that matter. Most people just don't equate our USDM premium luxury brands with status or luxury.
To the Japanese, Lexus doesn't feel all that special since they were basically buying Toyta Aristos just a few years ago before they became Lexus GS350s recently.
Honda, being a lower end brand than Toyota, would have even a more difficult problem - especially given their lack of a RWD V8 offering.
#1130
6G TLX-S
But how feasible is Honda's big RWD V8 sedan plan, now that people are going to smaller and fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, and that CAFE is raising the fleet fuel economy standard. With the currently high gas price, drivers as well as truck/big-car makers are all suffering badly.
#1131
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Originally Posted by Moog-Type-S
Honda is waiting for the next gen V8 RWD Acura vehicles!!!!!
#1132
Senior Moderator
It would be suicide to launch now considering the current state of the RL and lack of a halo car. The 2 year delay might perfectly coincide with the launch of the next RL and NSX.
#1134
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by dom
It would be suicide to launch now considering the current state of the RL and lack of a halo car. The 2 year delay might perfectly coincide with the launch of the next RL and NSX.
#1135
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by 04EuroAccordTsx
Is Infiniti also being sold in Japan now too like Lexus?
#1136
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Sorry to speculate...
...but, it seems that they could be waiting to debut the Acura brand with a presitge luxury sedan along with the new NSX. In order to be a true competitor with the big boys, Acura needs...NEEDS...a full-size competitor to the 7er, S-class, A8, and LS.
Like dom said, Acura is currently missing a true halo car. A midsizer as a flagship model is just unacceptable for the launch of a luxury brand. Further, a double-wammy introduction of a flagship sedan and sports coupe (NSX) would be perfect for building the brand.
The introduction of the Acura brand in Japan may be the introduction of Acura as a full-fledged luxury competitor. Only good can come from this, IMHO.
...but, it seems that they could be waiting to debut the Acura brand with a presitge luxury sedan along with the new NSX. In order to be a true competitor with the big boys, Acura needs...NEEDS...a full-size competitor to the 7er, S-class, A8, and LS.
Like dom said, Acura is currently missing a true halo car. A midsizer as a flagship model is just unacceptable for the launch of a luxury brand. Further, a double-wammy introduction of a flagship sedan and sports coupe (NSX) would be perfect for building the brand.
The introduction of the Acura brand in Japan may be the introduction of Acura as a full-fledged luxury competitor. Only good can come from this, IMHO.
#1138
Originally Posted by SpicyMikey
Agree. My Acura dealer is fine. Actually more then fine. Very good.
I've gone to Lexus, mb, and bmw forums and they complain about their service dept too. You can't use these type of forums as a way to guage something like that.
I've gone to Lexus, mb, and bmw forums and they complain about their service dept too. You can't use these type of forums as a way to guage something like that.
As a former acura owner, I had to got to 4 different dealers before I found one I liked. I lived in Austin TX. and would only take my car for service when i was in Dallas. (200mi away) Thats Thats how bad It was. But the service in dallas was great. As a former and current lexus owner and being part of 2 different lexus club web sites . There is very very VERY few complaints about the service department. Especially compared to here. Some are better than others , but i haven't been to a bad one. MB and BMW get alot of complaints too, well BMW not as much since every thing is free for the warranty of the car. But I've had some horrible service at BMW.
Originally Posted by VANDY
The Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index???WTF??? Yeah I'll be sure to let my potential customers know that we are tops according to this company!
#1139
03 ACURA TL TYPE S
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my acura service department treat me just fine always on point and on time, however when i walked on to the showroom floor once there were about 6 sales reps just sitting at their desk none of them got up to help or ask if i needed help i guess they don't take a 20 year old black male seriously,
#1140
I miss my 03 CL-S :(
I liked the way my dealer treated me so much that I went back to the same dealer when I bought my 2nd new Acura. As soon as I walked in, the salesman that sold me my 03 CL-S recognized me, greeted me and did all the right things. Ended up buying the 04 TSX I have now from the same dealership (and salesman!) I got the CL-S from.
Worst dealers in my experience over the past 5 years: Audi, Lexus, Honda, Mazda.
Best dealers in my experience: Acura, BMW, Infiniti
Worst dealers in my experience over the past 5 years: Audi, Lexus, Honda, Mazda.
Best dealers in my experience: Acura, BMW, Infiniti
#1143
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by dom
It would be suicide to launch now considering the current state of the RL and lack of a halo car. The 2 year delay might perfectly coincide with the launch of the next RL and NSX.
#1144
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by 01Cl_Type-S
maybe when they introduce acura to japan, we'll se a CL concept???
http://www.vtec.net/modelmatrix/
#1145
6G TLX-S
Originally Posted by lito
This is good news indeed. We'll have a couple more years converting our TSX's and RL's to Accord's and Legend's. Long live JDM's conversions
#1146
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Originally Posted by Edward'TLS
This is NOT good news. The longer TSX=Accord and RL=Legend, the harder it's gonna take Acura to establish it's supposingly premium brand image.
#1147
Team Owner
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Basically, they haven't figured out how to market the Japanese a Honda rebadged as an Acura that isn't very moddable which we all know is one thing teh Japanese love about cars.
#1148
Can't wait to drive
Acura TL Tops unpopular cars in China
I guess no one likes the TL in China
From the article:
Link to Article
From the article:
Last September, one of Honda's most popular models was released in China with hopes of American like popularity. Honda's main model in China, The Acura TL, sold less than 200 units during the first six months of 2007. Acura met their Waterloo for their unsuccessful marketing strategy.
#1150
Pro
Again, I'm not surprised.
1. There is no brand recognition in China about Acura. Acura is only known in the U.S., and here it's still mostly considered "luxury Hondas" to the average Joe, it's not associated with luxury, and even Chinese consumers who may know a thing or two about the U.S. auto market will be hard pressed to buy an Acura.
The auto market in China is very competitive, if not more, compared to the U.S. market. Cars from U.S., Japan, Europe, and domestic manufacturers are all sold there. There are tons of brands, and Acura will find it very hard to differentiate itself from the other players.
2. If you know anything about the Chinese auto consumers, as a percentage not many drive their cars to work (at least for now). Traffic is terrible and parking is limited. A large percentage will drive on after-work or weekend trips. The congested roads in the city and poorly developed roads in the country are not good for sports sedans - comfort and luxury are more important features.
In the luxury market, people who have money want large cars and will buy from well known brands. Audi, MB and BMW dominate. Since many are used for business, A6 and 5 series size cars dominate (in 2006, Audi sold 61,686 A6 and 15,536 A4).
I will say that Acura will continue to have trouble in the market place, until the brand has a large flagship premium sedan.
1. There is no brand recognition in China about Acura. Acura is only known in the U.S., and here it's still mostly considered "luxury Hondas" to the average Joe, it's not associated with luxury, and even Chinese consumers who may know a thing or two about the U.S. auto market will be hard pressed to buy an Acura.
The auto market in China is very competitive, if not more, compared to the U.S. market. Cars from U.S., Japan, Europe, and domestic manufacturers are all sold there. There are tons of brands, and Acura will find it very hard to differentiate itself from the other players.
2. If you know anything about the Chinese auto consumers, as a percentage not many drive their cars to work (at least for now). Traffic is terrible and parking is limited. A large percentage will drive on after-work or weekend trips. The congested roads in the city and poorly developed roads in the country are not good for sports sedans - comfort and luxury are more important features.
In the luxury market, people who have money want large cars and will buy from well known brands. Audi, MB and BMW dominate. Since many are used for business, A6 and 5 series size cars dominate (in 2006, Audi sold 61,686 A6 and 15,536 A4).
I will say that Acura will continue to have trouble in the market place, until the brand has a large flagship premium sedan.
#1151
Pro
from Asian Times (7/10/2007)
China car sales rev up nearly 26%
BEIJNG - As increasing numbers of newly affluent Chinese residents put the pedal to the metal in the first half of this year, both private car ownership and car sales were cruising smoothly.
Despite slackening in the past two months, China has managed to chalk up year-on-year growth of 25.9% in car sales for the first half of this year, sources with the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.
From January to June, 3.08 million passenger vehicles were sold
nationwide, up 22.3%. The total included 2.29 million cars, up 25.9%, 107,000 MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles, known as minivans in North America), up 12.9%, and 158,000 SUVs (sport-utility vehicles), up 39.3%.
By the end of June, more than 13 million cars in China were privately owned, up 16% over the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
The growth rate of private car ownership was slightly down, 0.96 percentage point, from the same period of last year, according to the ministry's traffic administration.
The number of motor vehicles across the country rose to 152 million, up 5.2% from the end of last year, and almost 90% were passenger cars and motorcycles. Up to 75.4% of vehicles were privately owned, up 5.1% year on year, the ministry said.
The number of car drivers exceeded 100 million, up 5.7%, and 82% of them were aged 26-50. The number of inexperienced drivers also went up, with 36.6% driving less than three years and 9.4% less than a year.
Beijing has 2.97 million cars. That number is expected to exceed 3.3 million by the time of the Olympic Games next summer. At least 1 million more parking spaces are needed to cope with the capital's rising car numbers.
CAAM sources said that in the six-month period, the top five best-selling models were Volkswagen's Santana and Jetta, Buick Excelle, Toyota Camry and Chery QQ. The top car makers in terms of sales were FAW Volkswagen, Shanghai Volkswagen, Chery, Dongfeng-Nissan and Guangzhou Honda.
Other foreign and domestic car makers also reported strong growth in sales.
Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co also reported strong first-half sales in the Chinese market, where they are competing to introduce new models to attract customers.
Toyota sold 212,000 vehicles in China during the period, up 77% from a year earlier, powered by brisk demand for its Camry sedan, the best-selling car in the United States in eight of the past nine years. Sales of the Camry in China came to nearly 78,000 units, well on track to hit the full-year target of 150,000, or more than one-third of Toyota’s total China sales goal of 430,000 vehicles in 2007.
Ford said retail sales of its wholly owned brands in China rose 25% during the first half to 93,206 vehicles. Sales of the mid-sized Focus sedan, made by a joint venture between Ford, Mazda Motor Corp and Changan Automobile Co Ltd, came to 55,676 units, up 66% from a year ago, it said in a statement.
Demand for luxury models was also strong in China, as its growing ranks of nouveau riche snapped up the latest premium models.
Toyota sold 12,000 Lexus cars in China in the half-year, nearly matching the 13,000 sold in all of 2006 and well on track to meet its full-year 2007 target of 22,000. Ford's Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover brands posted combined sales of 8,779 units, up 66% from a year earlier.
But both auto makers still lag behind rivals General Motors Corp and Volkswagen AG in the Chinese market.
Meanwhile, Chinese car maker Brilliance Auto, a partner of BMW, said its sales grew 58% in the first half of the year. The sales of the Shenyang-based company rose to 140,000 vehicles from 88,600 in the same period a year ago, said company sources. Monthly sales of the company's Zhonghua cars - including the Zunchi (BS 6) and Junjie (BS 4) sedans - maintained at above 10,000 units for six months in a row this year.
The company exported 7,000 vehicles in the first half, up 125% year on year, with the number of its overseas distributors increasing to 41 from 33 at the end of last year.
Brilliance Auto, China's first car maker to hold an exhibition at the International Geneva Motor Show, mapped out a five-year plan in January to explore the markets in Europe, Russia, the US, the Middle East and other regions. At the end of last year, the company clinched an export deal with a German distributor to sell 158,000 Zunchi and Junjie cars in Europe over the next five years.
Brilliance Auto is expected to produce 300,000 vehicles this year, with sales revenues reaching 40 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion). It also plans to double its revenues by 2010, by raising its annual output to 500,000.
Another Chinese car maker, Chery Automobile, plans to raise its annual output to 1 million vehicles by 2010, according to company sources. The 10-year-old company, based in Wuhu, capital of Anhui province, is expected to increase its production capacity by 200,000 vehicles to 700,000 this year.
Chery, an ambitious flag-bearer of Chinese indigenous brands, became the country's fourth-largest producer of passenger cars in 2006, with sales of 305,200 vehicles, up 62% from the previous year. The company held a 7.2% in market share in China last year, up from 6.7% in 2005.
US Chrysler Group, which signed a deal last week to sell the Chery cars to North America and Europe, is to select four to six compact models developed by Chery for exports under Chrysler Group brands. Sales in North America and Europe are expected to reach 300,000-500,000 vehicles by 2019.
Chery also plans to set up a joint venture with Quantum LLC, a US subsidiary of Tel Aviv-listed Israel Group, in its attempt to explore the European and US markets. Once approved by the Chinese government, the 5.8 billion yuan ($744 million) joint venture will start production in 2009, rolling out 105,000 sedans and 45,000 SUVs a year.
Despite its fast growth, Chery is still far from becoming one of the global auto giants that produce an annual average of 2 million vehicles, said a company executive.
China car sales rev up nearly 26%
BEIJNG - As increasing numbers of newly affluent Chinese residents put the pedal to the metal in the first half of this year, both private car ownership and car sales were cruising smoothly.
Despite slackening in the past two months, China has managed to chalk up year-on-year growth of 25.9% in car sales for the first half of this year, sources with the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.
From January to June, 3.08 million passenger vehicles were sold
nationwide, up 22.3%. The total included 2.29 million cars, up 25.9%, 107,000 MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles, known as minivans in North America), up 12.9%, and 158,000 SUVs (sport-utility vehicles), up 39.3%.
By the end of June, more than 13 million cars in China were privately owned, up 16% over the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
The growth rate of private car ownership was slightly down, 0.96 percentage point, from the same period of last year, according to the ministry's traffic administration.
The number of motor vehicles across the country rose to 152 million, up 5.2% from the end of last year, and almost 90% were passenger cars and motorcycles. Up to 75.4% of vehicles were privately owned, up 5.1% year on year, the ministry said.
The number of car drivers exceeded 100 million, up 5.7%, and 82% of them were aged 26-50. The number of inexperienced drivers also went up, with 36.6% driving less than three years and 9.4% less than a year.
Beijing has 2.97 million cars. That number is expected to exceed 3.3 million by the time of the Olympic Games next summer. At least 1 million more parking spaces are needed to cope with the capital's rising car numbers.
CAAM sources said that in the six-month period, the top five best-selling models were Volkswagen's Santana and Jetta, Buick Excelle, Toyota Camry and Chery QQ. The top car makers in terms of sales were FAW Volkswagen, Shanghai Volkswagen, Chery, Dongfeng-Nissan and Guangzhou Honda.
Other foreign and domestic car makers also reported strong growth in sales.
Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co also reported strong first-half sales in the Chinese market, where they are competing to introduce new models to attract customers.
Toyota sold 212,000 vehicles in China during the period, up 77% from a year earlier, powered by brisk demand for its Camry sedan, the best-selling car in the United States in eight of the past nine years. Sales of the Camry in China came to nearly 78,000 units, well on track to hit the full-year target of 150,000, or more than one-third of Toyota’s total China sales goal of 430,000 vehicles in 2007.
Ford said retail sales of its wholly owned brands in China rose 25% during the first half to 93,206 vehicles. Sales of the mid-sized Focus sedan, made by a joint venture between Ford, Mazda Motor Corp and Changan Automobile Co Ltd, came to 55,676 units, up 66% from a year ago, it said in a statement.
Demand for luxury models was also strong in China, as its growing ranks of nouveau riche snapped up the latest premium models.
Toyota sold 12,000 Lexus cars in China in the half-year, nearly matching the 13,000 sold in all of 2006 and well on track to meet its full-year 2007 target of 22,000. Ford's Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover brands posted combined sales of 8,779 units, up 66% from a year earlier.
But both auto makers still lag behind rivals General Motors Corp and Volkswagen AG in the Chinese market.
Meanwhile, Chinese car maker Brilliance Auto, a partner of BMW, said its sales grew 58% in the first half of the year. The sales of the Shenyang-based company rose to 140,000 vehicles from 88,600 in the same period a year ago, said company sources. Monthly sales of the company's Zhonghua cars - including the Zunchi (BS 6) and Junjie (BS 4) sedans - maintained at above 10,000 units for six months in a row this year.
The company exported 7,000 vehicles in the first half, up 125% year on year, with the number of its overseas distributors increasing to 41 from 33 at the end of last year.
Brilliance Auto, China's first car maker to hold an exhibition at the International Geneva Motor Show, mapped out a five-year plan in January to explore the markets in Europe, Russia, the US, the Middle East and other regions. At the end of last year, the company clinched an export deal with a German distributor to sell 158,000 Zunchi and Junjie cars in Europe over the next five years.
Brilliance Auto is expected to produce 300,000 vehicles this year, with sales revenues reaching 40 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion). It also plans to double its revenues by 2010, by raising its annual output to 500,000.
Another Chinese car maker, Chery Automobile, plans to raise its annual output to 1 million vehicles by 2010, according to company sources. The 10-year-old company, based in Wuhu, capital of Anhui province, is expected to increase its production capacity by 200,000 vehicles to 700,000 this year.
Chery, an ambitious flag-bearer of Chinese indigenous brands, became the country's fourth-largest producer of passenger cars in 2006, with sales of 305,200 vehicles, up 62% from the previous year. The company held a 7.2% in market share in China last year, up from 6.7% in 2005.
US Chrysler Group, which signed a deal last week to sell the Chery cars to North America and Europe, is to select four to six compact models developed by Chery for exports under Chrysler Group brands. Sales in North America and Europe are expected to reach 300,000-500,000 vehicles by 2019.
Chery also plans to set up a joint venture with Quantum LLC, a US subsidiary of Tel Aviv-listed Israel Group, in its attempt to explore the European and US markets. Once approved by the Chinese government, the 5.8 billion yuan ($744 million) joint venture will start production in 2009, rolling out 105,000 sedans and 45,000 SUVs a year.
Despite its fast growth, Chery is still far from becoming one of the global auto giants that produce an annual average of 2 million vehicles, said a company executive.
#1152
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
If Honda really wants a piece of the China luxury car market, they need to step up their research and better understand their consumers there. There's a boat load of money to be made there, but they will not be able to do it without proper insight and leadership in the country.
#1154
Registered TL Owner
Originally Posted by taitando
Same here. My "shopping experience" with the Acura dealers around here were great. My "service" experience is an entirely different matter. My dealer tries to rape me whenever I take the car in for any service (ie. A1, whatever alphabet soup). They want to charge $200 bucks for an oil change and tire rotation. In the meantime, it's like pulling teeth to get a service loaner.
#1156
I agree with TMQ.
Luxury buyers in China are looking for the status and prestige that come along with the brand. With Acura's lack of brand recognition (not just recognition, but recognition as a luxury brand), an Acura buyer in China would be paying luxury price without getting the luxury recognition they seeked in the first place.
And the same problem is plaguing Acura in Hong Kong. In the Legend era, Acura was a very respectable brand in Hong Kong, but for some reason it wasn't able to take off in the luxury market like Lexus has. Acura sales has been very poor in recent years, to the point that only one model (RL) is offered nowadays. Again, Hong Kong buyers, when paying the same price, would rather get a Lexus/Audi/BMW due to their higher brand prestige.
Overall, I think the idea of "value luxury" doesn't really work in China, where there's a much higher discrepancy between the rich and the poor. For the Chinese luxury auto buyers, money really is of no object, so the "value luxury" proposition Acura brings doesn't work like it does for middle-class America.
Luxury buyers in China are looking for the status and prestige that come along with the brand. With Acura's lack of brand recognition (not just recognition, but recognition as a luxury brand), an Acura buyer in China would be paying luxury price without getting the luxury recognition they seeked in the first place.
And the same problem is plaguing Acura in Hong Kong. In the Legend era, Acura was a very respectable brand in Hong Kong, but for some reason it wasn't able to take off in the luxury market like Lexus has. Acura sales has been very poor in recent years, to the point that only one model (RL) is offered nowadays. Again, Hong Kong buyers, when paying the same price, would rather get a Lexus/Audi/BMW due to their higher brand prestige.
Overall, I think the idea of "value luxury" doesn't really work in China, where there's a much higher discrepancy between the rich and the poor. For the Chinese luxury auto buyers, money really is of no object, so the "value luxury" proposition Acura brings doesn't work like it does for middle-class America.
#1157
After doing more research and thinking about this, my current conclusion is that the low sales of the TL doesn't necessarily mean Acura is not doing well in China. All that means is it confirms my theory that Acura can only survive as a truly luxury brand. It's possible that the TL doesn't provide enough luxury for potential Acura buyers so the vast majority of them got an RL instead. (This reminds me of someone who once said that in Dubai, the 7-series sells better than the 5-series, which sells better than the 3-series.)
In the official Chinese Acura website (http://www.acura.com.cn), it posts the car reviews from different car magazines. For the RL there are 6 different reviews; for the new MDX, there are 6 as well; but for the TL, there is only 1 review dedicated to it. Acura only sold 200 TLs in the first half of 2007, but I'd be really interested to know the sales figures of the RL and MDX. Does anybody know where I can obtain this information?
In the official Chinese Acura website (http://www.acura.com.cn), it posts the car reviews from different car magazines. For the RL there are 6 different reviews; for the new MDX, there are 6 as well; but for the TL, there is only 1 review dedicated to it. Acura only sold 200 TLs in the first half of 2007, but I'd be really interested to know the sales figures of the RL and MDX. Does anybody know where I can obtain this information?
#1158
Houses Won't Depreciate?
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Kia, Cadillac, Mercury U.S. sales climb; Jag, Jeep, Hummer, Acura plummet
Thats pretty rough
http://www.leftlanenews.com/october-2007-car-sales.html
Honda brand sales inched up 3.4 percent (101,913), but the Acura brand was off 22 percent, declining to 12,886 shipments.
#1159
Be Strong AND Courageous!
iTrader: (1)
If you read the report, it sounds like folks with money, who had it before the US slide face first into financial mud, are still buying the cars they want and the folks in the middle are hurtin, so they are buying more affordable cars... I don' know about FL, but here in Houston, there are so many new cars on most lots that there are cars and trucks parked on the grass... and there are more used cars than you can shake a stick at... just cars laying around everywhere like hay...