JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Costco

I love that gif so much

SSFTSX

Again nothing to do with reality. Acura lacks of 4 year maintance, not so good leases and lack of customization enable to offer slightly larger car for price point. RLX does not include expense of run flat tires, heads up display, 8 speed auto, turbo charge engine, dynamic suspension etc. these things are fundamental in rising R&D cost. It has practically nothing to do with FWD.

TSX69

Acura Celebrates 28 Years as America's Top Luxury Brand,
Alphabeticaly

04/01/2014 - TORRANCE, Calif.

Acura today celebrated an important milestone, marking 28 consecutive years as the top luxury automobile brand in America based on alphabetical ranking1. Since its inception as the 1st luxury brand from a Japanese automaker, in March 1986, Acura has maintained a clear alphabetical leadership position over all other luxury brands, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.

"At Acura, there are many things we're proud of, and 1 of those things is our alphabetic dominance. I mean, these are the A-B-Cs of marketing, and no 1 does it better than Acura," said Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Acura. "Audi has been nipping at our heels since the beginning, and then there was that deal with Amati, which never really had a shot. We even toyed with adding another A on the front of the name, but we're confident that we can maintain our leadership, assuming no 1 comes along with Abalone or Aardvark or something like that."

Next month, Acura will debut its newest model, the Acura TLX sports sedan, at the 2014 New York International Auto Show (no kidding). The Acura press conference is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. (EST) on April 16, 2014 inside the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The conference can also be viewed live on www.youtube.com/acura. For members of the media, press materials and photography will be posted at www.acuranews.com immediately following the press conference.

"We probably should have called it the A-TLX," added Accavitti. "But it's still a damn fine vehicle, even if it's not 1st in the yellow pages."

Expressing his enthusiasm for the future of the Acura brand, Accavitti, who leads the alphabetical rankings of luxury automobile marketing executives, concluded by saying, "Happy April Fool's Day everyone!"

About Acura
Acura offers a full line of technologically advanced performance luxury vehicles through a network of 275 dealers within the United States. The Acura lineup features six distinctive models including the RLX luxury flagship sedan, the TL performance luxury sedan, the TSX Sport Wagon and sedan, the ILX compact luxury sedan, the RDX luxury crossover SUV, and the all-new MDX luxury sport utility vehicle.

oonowindoo

Seriously? Alphabetic dominance? What the fuck does that even mean?

A > B > C > D?

TSX69

http://acuranews.com/channels/acura-...for-2014-march

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. today reported March 2014 Honda and Acura vehicle sales of 133,318 units. Acura division gained 10.5 percent (14.7 percent based on the Daily Selling Rate, or DSR*)on sales of 15,580, with light trucks increasing 45.8 percent for the month on sales of 10,387 units. The Honda Division recorded sales of 117,738 vehicles in March.

Honda
Despite heavy incentives from several major automakers, Honda market share remained strong in March with a nearly 30 percent month-over-month increase as the U.S. auto market clawed back from one of the worst winters in memory.

Accord posted March sales of 33,962 and was the best-selling Honda model for the month
Civic found 27,967 new buyers, up 0.1% versus last March
CR-V recorded sales of 28,657, up 6.5 percent for the month
Odyssey sales also rose slightly to 11,008

"With all of the independent data showing the competition getting back on the juice of heavy incentives and fleet sales, we couldn't be more pleased to see our core models—Accord, Civic and CR-V—attract such significant interest from retail buyers," said Jeff Conrad, Honda division senior vice president and general manager. "And with the all-new 2015 Fit going on sale this month, our model lineup is only going to get stronger."

Acura
Acura's flagship SUV, the MDX, drove a 10.5 percent division increase as Acura light truck sales climbed nearly 46 percent from a year earlier. RDX also contributed to its remarkable string of monthly increases, with sales rising for the 23rd straight month.

Acura division sales increase 10.5 percent with 15,580 units sold in March
Acura trucks rise 45.8 percent on sales of 10,387, a new March record
MDX sales set a new monthly record with total sales up 80.6 percent, totaling 5,793 in March
RDX recorded an increase of 18.2 percent on sales of 4,580 units, another March record

"It's unusual to have such strength and consistency in the hyper-competitive luxury SUV segment," said Mike Accavitti, Acura division senior vice president and general manager. "It's clear that MDX and RDX possess the key qualities that give lasting appeal."

oonowindoo

LOL

They are too ashamed to even mention, ILX, TL, RLX, TSX and the word Sedan and coupe in general.

EhkoXC

Check the date...

oonowindoo

fuk

AZuser

Legend2TL

^ +1

YEH

MB and Audi don't offer free maintenance (neither does Lexus or Infiniti) and all the Asians lack customization.


It has everything to do w/ FWD.


There's a reason why the larger FWD Cadillac XTS starts at a lower MSRP than the RWD CTS even tho the base CTS is equipped w/ a T4 and the XTS, a V6.


There's a reason why Infiniti pegs the smaller RWD FX/QX70 higher up on its lineup hierarchy than the FWD JX/QX60 (the QX70 has a higher price as well).


Why do you think Lincoln execs, after a century of competing head to head against Cadillac, stated that going forward, their primary competition would no longer be Cadillac as Cadillac is on its way to completing a full RWD sedan lineup?

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

It's more expensive to manufacture a RWD vehicle, but the difference isn't huge. Most of the time, RWD cars tend to be more expensive simply because they are more exclusive - it's cheaper to produce 100000 of the same car than 10000.

YEH

RWD platforms are more expensive to develop and produce (esp. as they are developed to take in larger/heavier displacement engines), but in the scheme of things, it's really the economies of scale.


Much more economically feasible to sell something based on a FWD platform that already sells in the hundreds of thousands.


The reason why both Ford and Honda gave up on developing a RWD platform for their luxury divisions is that chance of them seeing a return on their investment wasn't that great.


It's the same reason why Nissan is relying more and more on Daimler for Infiniti and why Toyota opted for another (but more substantial refresh) of the LS - trying to squeeze every penny from that platform/powertrain combination (it's why the LS460 is woefully behind the completion when it comes to its powertrain since Toyota is still basically using the same V8, whereas the European competition constantly try to outdo each other).

Edward'TLS

Seems like that the RLX is back to square one, after having once peaked at 900 units per month.

AZuser

They don't even bother mentioning it, nor any other sedan, in their press releases anymore. It's all about their SUVs. How sad is that?

Let's see if the TLX can fix that.

SSFTSX

MB/Audi has so many variants that it is difficult to count. for example A4 has both CVT & 8 speed auto transmission and additional S4 transmissions. Just the color options are huge.
This verstality adds to the development cost.
C class is developed all the way to AMG.

nothing to do with FWD.

You cannot compare one manufacturer FWD with another manufacturer FWD. Honda has perfected double wishbone setup such that skinniest fuel efficient tires still gets the highest G handling You don't need 275 wide tires to get some decent handling from RLX.
Just the engineering behind super reliable vehicles on global scale no matter where the production plant is completely different. Honda costs are that unseen costs that you can not see and feel from driving experience.

on average Honda is twice reliable Toyota.

AZuser

Wait. You're basing reliability on a single survey that was conducted by a UK car magazine and a company that sells car warranties?

Of all the surveys out there, why did you choose that one and not the one that was conducted by CarMD which names Hyundai as the most reliable car brand?


Or the survey done by Consumer Reports which names Lexus and Toyota as most reliable:


Or the survey done by JD Power which also names Lexus as the most reliable:

SSFTSX

Honda Europe is priced like Lexus and BMW. they more complex than cheap brand like Hyundai. and Warranty survey is more accurate as it takes real data from field. not some random survey.

Even in fleet car. Honda is most reliable.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/47848/ho...et-car/photos/
Honda Civic Hatch is UK's Most Reliable Fleet Car

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Yea, totally agree on this post. The key is to make several popular models based on one RWD platform, or make one super popular model that will sell worldwide. That way the development cost per car sold will be much lower. For Acura, the problems currently are that the volume is too low and it's not a global brand. Honda also isn't one of the largest manufacturers, nor is it a company that focuses mainly on making RWD cars.

jwong77

So much nonsense and broken english at the same time!

AZuser

Warranty Direct's survey is not more accurate than a Consumer Reports or CarMD survey.

Warranty Direct's survey took data from "50,000 Warranty Direct policies covering three to eight-year-old vehicles."

The Consumer Reports survey collected "detailed data on about 1.1 million vehicles" from their "magazine and website subscribers."

The CarMD survey "looked at data that applies to more than 119 million vehicles" that were up to 10 years old vs Warranty Direct's 8 years.


One could argue that since Warranty Direct's survey looked at a very small sample size (50,000 WD policy owners) and didn't take into account car owners who did not buy a Warranty Direct policy that their survey is less accurate.

FYI: The larger the sample size, the more accurate the data usually is.

ttribe

IOW, the WarrantyDirect survey had sampling bias baked right in from the beginning. Lovely.

AZuser

Pretty much. I see it as an advertisement.

"Hey, if you don't own a super reliable Honda or Toyota, then you better buy an extended warranty because your car is going to have costly repairs down the road. Oh, and by the way, we conveniently happen to sell extended warranties."

oonowindoo

his counter argument will be "Since Acura only use all season tires = last longer = less aggressive driving = more reliable. Acura has superior ground clearance = more wind under the car/less heat causing components to fail."

ttribe

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." - Mark Twain

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

My dog would give you a duck face if he read your post.

kurtatx

You use a quote Mark Twain misquoted as a way to sound witty and I'm the newb. lol.

Did you read the study? Did you notice that Toyota and Honda were both in the top five? I'm confused.

kurtatx

Nothing in the CarMD study indicates that statement to be false, and the first BMW on the rankings is number 81 in the top 100. I see nothing in this study that really indicates that Honda and Toyota shouldn't continue to advertise their reliability.

Costco

How do you even quantify something like this? That's like telling a woman "I'm twice as good as your ex-boyfriend"

Does anyone even take this guy seriously?



I know you can't get banned for trolling necessarily (especially if it's on-topic), but if there ever were a case...

AZuser

You mean the statement that Hyundai is the "Most Reliable Car Brand"?

And no one said such. But in this instance, it's Warranty Direct and SSFTSX who are claiming that "Honda is most reliable" car brand and that "Honda is twice reliable Toyota" all based on a survey with a very small sample size and only of Warranty Direct policy holders.

How is a survey of 50,000 random Warranty Direct policy holders going to produce a fair and accurate representation of every car make or model? How many of those 50,000 WD policy holders own a Honda vs a Toyota vs a BMW vs a Mercedes vs a Fiat vs a Vauxhall, etc.?

If, for example, out of those 50,000 policy holders only, say, 100 own a Honda while 3,000 own a Toyota and 8,000 own a BMW and 7, 000 own a Mercedes and so on, you're going to get skewed results because you'll have a smaller sample size of Honda owners and those who've made warranty claims vs a much larger sample size for Toyota or car brand X owners.

A more fair study would be to survey 50,000 owners of each make and model instead of some random group of 50,000 Warranty Direct policy holders.

I would also imagine people who own non-Japanese brands to be more likely to purchase extended warranties.

oonowindoo

a simple term: Conflict of interest = automatically void all credibility

jhumbo

iTrader: (1)

I never know what to make of all this conflicting data. CarMD ranks Hyundai as most reliable and yet you'll notice that Hyundai is at the very bottom of JD Powers list.

I understand that studies will vary as they put emphasis on different things, but how can one study rank Hyundai as best and another one as the worst.

AZuser

Without actually reading the study and knowing what methodology was used, That's why you cannot blindly accept these types of reports as absolute truths like SSFTSX does.

kurtatx

A lot of it has to do with marketing. Toyota's earlier success in reliability has allowed for them to market themselves as a reliable brand. Any sources that back up their claims only strengthen their reliability marketing.

Yes and no. What we can gather from all of these studies (including CarMD), is that Toyota and Honda manufactured vehicles are more reliable than Merc or BMW, but that to buy a Honda or Toyota over a Hyundai based on reliability is silly. But if you're between a Honda or a Volkswagen, by all means reliability should be a point in Honda's side of the scale.

ttribe

What are you coming after me for? I never called you a "newb". My Mark Twain quote was in reference to the sampling bias problem I was discussing with someone else. I wasn't commenting, at all, on the issue of Toyota and Honda being able to call themselves "reliable". Since the definition of "reliable" varies across all of these studies, the issue is rather pointless.

Quit acting like everything I post on this board is a personal affront to you.

TSX69

New Acura Boss Maps TurnAround

As tough auto industry assignments go, Mike Accavitti has 1 of the tougher challenges: turn around Acura.

The Honda luxury unit feels like it has lost its direction, unsure of what it is supposed to be. But in introducing a new TLX sedan, Accavitti thinks he has the car that can point Acura in the right direction.

That's because TLX embodies many of the 2 big qualities that Accavitti thinks will make the brand stand apart.

•"Superhandling." That's Acura's term for precise steering and handling. While many brands boast of it, Acura thinks it has the right technology to make it truly special. It's "incredibly quick and responsive," he says.

•Tech innovations. Honda is pouring some of its best engineering into TLX, starting with its 2.4- and 3.5-liter engines. The car is more rigid and drivers will "feel the torque" of its power right out of the gate. 1 innovation is a safety system that detects if the car is going off the road and steers it back on.

"We have to start somewhere," he says, "of bringing a renaissance to the brand starting with TLX," Accavitti says.

He wants to make 1 thing clear, though. He'd love to improve sales, but he says he's not unhappy with where he's starting. "There's nothing wrong with the brand," he insists. Customers and car buyers in general have positive, if not warm, feelings toward it. It has a reputation for making solid products.

If there's any confusion around Acura, it's concerning individual models. With names like ILX, MDX and RDX, it's hard to sort them out. Though they replace models that just about everyone seemed to know and like, like Legend and Integra, Accavitti says he's in no mood to change names.

He says Acura will just have to work harder and perhaps spend more money to get people to know the vehicles it already has.

He's heartened that its models are typically cross-shopped against Germany's finest when car buyers start looking for luxury models. "We're doing some things right," especially when it comes to the crossover lineup. "We need to take these learnings to the sedan part of the business."

He has 1 high-attention vehicle in the wings that could solve a lot of Acura's problems when it comes to creating excitement and being better known. It's the NSX supercar.

"It's our trump card," he says. "It's the epitome of superhandling."

The car business really isn't that complicated, he says. "The key to everything is great product."

Between performance machines like TLX and NSX, he thinks he's got them.

YEH

So what?

the most expensive things to develop are platforms and powertrains - so developing various body-styles just maximizes utilization of the platforms and powertrains.


Please - get a CLUE.

There is a reason why the Lexus ES is midsize/large sedan but is priced like compact.

Same goes for the RX (Highlander midsize platform) but priced like a compact CUV and the upcoming NX (RAV-4 compact platform) but priced below the RWD X3 and GLK.

It's the same reason why the larger FWD Infiniti JX is slotted beneath the RWD FX and why the larger XTS is slotted beneath the CTS.

And the same reason why the FWD A6, despite being German, starts at a lower pricepoint than the Japanese GS and M/Q70 and why Audi does not offer the A7 and A8 in FWD in the States.

Same reason why Lincoln, after a century of competing head to head with Cadillac, stated that going forward, they will be competing more against Audi (wishful), Acura and the FWD Lexus lineup than Cadillac which will have a full RWD sedan lineup.

Same reason why the Equus, despite not having a luxury badge or separate dealer network, is priced higher than the RLX and why the 2G Genesis will be priced higher than the TLX.


The biggest factor is having a transverse versus a longitudinal mounted engine with the latter being seen as more premium, and even then, RWD has traditionally been the set-up for flagship luxury sedans (which is why Audi has long lagged behind Mercedes and BMW in flagship sedan sales).


The rest doesn't really matter - which is why the RLX has become another sales disaster for Acura.

oonowindoo

who are you quoting?

ttribe

If history is any indication - SSFTSX