iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Yea..

Low demand -> slow sales -> low supply -> not enough choices -> even less sales and demand

And the cycle continues.

ttribe

Looks an awful lot like a death spiral...which is scary.

Costco

I actually kinda like the ILX in person

I just don't think it's a great value. Especially equipped with the only drivetrain worth getting for it. $29k for an even smaller TSX, essentially? Or should I say Acura Civic Si?

kurtatx

Exactly my problem. ILX just doesn't look like its high price tag.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

one that Acura can't seem to get out lol.

haha you know what I also think the ILX is good looking in person. I drove it a few times and found it quite a nice car too. But it's not enough to justify its price tag. Slightly more aggressive styling and some goodies from the TLX such as LED headlights and 2.4L engine with 8-DCT would help a lot.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

ILX looks like a hard tofu in person. So plain. So Civic-ish.

Not hating. It just looks so bland in person. That's all.

phile

LoL I think the ILX is the handsomest of all the Acura sedans. Slap the LED headlights on it, some chrome trim in the lower air dams, LED the tail lights (basically give it the Acura treatment that it should've had since day 1) & I think it'll easily outshine the ho hum looking TLX. Now that power train & the plastic fantastic interior are in sure need of a revamp as well. But it's a looker IMO

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Accord looks 10000 times better than ILX or any other Acura sedans that's available today.

fsttyms1

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

+1.

oonowindoo

So basically you are saying other than the shape, change everything inside out.

a brand new car...

phile

Nope. They can keep the plastic dash on the ILX (seems the new TLX hasn't caught on to the general luxury car trend of leather wrapped dashes), but get rid of that silver trim, or, start migrating the fake wood down the product line and throw some in the ILX's interior, a few bits of chrome touches here and there and I think the ILX will be a much nicer cabin. Cause you can't change its underlying structure - which is a compact car - so the thin center console, the shrunken everything, that you're just going to have to accept. But I feel Acura really held back on the interior (needlessly).

dom

Who under the age of 65 years old wants fake or real wood for that matter trim? I can think of only one person. ^^

Hold the wood please.

oonowindoo

LOL real brushed aluminum will be nice

and let's be honest, aluminum is probably cheaper than whatever fake wood they put in there.

fsttyms1

Id rather not have either. Give me a nice leather wrapped with nice accent stitching on my dash and doors please.

phile

It's better than what they currently have!

That would look nice too, but something tells me they won't - not because of cost, because Acura. Revised Civic interior - fake leather stitching on dash - new TLX, stitched dash not present.

oonowindoo

you are asking too much.

fsttyms1

Yea, i know. Asking for a good looking car is too much, i knew a leather dash with nice stitching would be way over the top for them.

TSX69

American Honda Sales Increase 9.0% in May

06/03/2014 - TORRANCE, Calif.

American Honda sets May record for light truck sales
Honda Accord, Civic and CR-V each post double digit gains, together selling over 100k units
Acura MDX shatters May record, lifts light trucks to best May in division history

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. today reported May 2014 Honda and Acura vehicle sales of 152,603 units—an overall increase of 9.0 percent (5.0 percent based on the Daily Selling Rate, or DSR*) compared to May 2013, which showed a similar increase vs. the previous year. The Honda Division posted an increase of 9.8 percent with May sales of 137,928 units. Acura division gained 2.2 percent on May sales of 14,675, with light trucks increasing 32.9 percent for the month on sales of 10,301 units. Year-to-date American Honda sales reached 610,413 units.

Honda
On the heels of strong retail sales in the 1st 4 months of the year, Accord, Civic and CR-V each topped 30,000 units in brisk May business, combining for sales of more than 100,000 units. The Honda division was up 9.8 percent overall in May.

Honda light trucks set a new May sales record, selling 57,835 units for a gain of 2.1 percent
Accord, America's best-selling retail car in the first quarter of 2014, was up 19.3 percent in May with 39,637 units sold
CR-V, the industry's most popular SUV, posted its best May sales ever with 32,430 units sold, an increase of 19.8 percent
Civic also had a strong May, with sales up 19.2 percent to 36,089 units vs. May 2013

"With spring finally in full force across the country, Accord, Civic and CR-V are really starting to bloom," said Jeff Conrad, Honda division senior vice president and general manager. "With our 3 core models out-selling some entire brands and the all-new Fit starting to hit the ground next week, our dealers are preparing for heavy customer traffic in the coming months."

Acura
Hot-selling Acura light trucks continued their record-setting pace, combining to achieve the best May sales in division history. The MDX also posted its best May ever, topping sales of over 5900 for the month and up 115.6 percent for the year. After posting 24 consecutive months of record sales, the RDX netted May sales of 4,299 and gaining 3.8 percent for the year. Monthly sales of both the TL and TSX models reflect very tight supply with the anticipation of the launch of the all-new 2015 Acura TLX later this year.

Total Acura division sales increased 2.2 percent over last year on sales of 14,675 units in May
Acura trucks led the division with an increase of 32.9 percent on sales of 10,301 for a best-ever May performance
MDX also posted its best May with sales up 115.6 percent on sales of 5,997 units

"Acura light trucks continue to exceed even our high expectations, with the MDX posting another record increase in May," said Mike Accavitti, Acura division senior vice president and general manager. "As dealers and customers anxiously await the all-new TLX, it's great to see models like the ILX having 1 of its better months and drawing a new, younger customer to the Acura brand."

AZuser

Accord, Civic, CR-V doing exceptionally well. Odyssey and Pilot doing okay. Everything else is

MDX and RDX doing really well. Everything else....

phile

Look at those RLX's - just flying off those lots!

dom

It's literally either feast or famine at Honda/Acura.

biker

Those TL and TSX sales are ramping down quite nicely - should be down to zero by the time the TLX finally launches.

fsttyms1

Hopefully the TL sells better than the RLX

YEH

The Odyssey does very well for its segment and the Pilot does fine considering its age.

Honda does very well w/ its core models.

As I stated before, it's easier for FWD-based luxury brands to sell CUVs than sedans, but at the same time, Acura has had it easy w/ the RDX and MDX due to little direct competition.

The RX and SRX, while based on midsize platforms, are tweeners in size and fall between the RDX and MDX.

Lexus will soon have the properly compact sized NX CUV, as will Lincoln w/ the MKC; and the next RX should grow a bit to be a proper MDX competitor and around the same time, Lincoln will have a new and much improved MKX.

The ? is Cadillac as to whether their future CUVs will be FWD or RWD based (or a mix of both).

Buick will likely also add a compact or midsize CUV (possibly both), and Volvo will finally be updating/expanding its CUV lineup.

oonowindoo

Honda is doing fine the way it is. Cheap, reliable, fuel efficient, conservative basically offers everything that segment is looking for.

The problem has always been Acura. The sooner they realize Acura should not be like Honda, the better off they will be.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Agree. Honda is always doing fine, catering to the economy vehicle buyers.

It just that selling premium automobiles require some skills and brand prestige, that Acura still can't quite figure out.

JAB00

Acura should really just give up on trying to sell sedans. The RLX is an unmitigated disaster in terms of sales. The TLX will have middling sales at best. Honda is stubbornly sticking to this FWD platform. In the luxury or near luxury segment this is a non-starter for many buyers who are splurging. The FWD RLX is just a complete joke.

kurtatx

No reason to give up sedan building, but Acura should consider taking a page out of the Audi book and stop offering FWD on the TLX and above. Get the FWD out of the top models. If Acura wants to make AWD luxury vehicles, so be it, but this FWD snore machines don't cut it.

biker

You think Audi would sell fewer cars if they offered a FWD version of the A8?

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Due to the HP limitation on FWD vehicles, the A8 (including all FWD platform Audi's) has no choice but to go AWD, if the motor generates more than ~300hp.

kurtatx

An A8 couldn't exist without AWD.

This.

TSX69

Have Hybrid Cars Hit Their Peak?
Consumers Increasingly Take Rising Gas Prices in Stride

It was a truism for years: Gasoline prices shoot up in summer and sales of fuel-sipping hybrid vehicles follow.

But American consumers appear to have become inured to the annual summer fuel price spikes to $3.50 a gallon -- or to $4.50 in California -- and sales of the Toyota Prius and other hybrids may be flattening.

An analysis of data from the Automotive News Data Center and IHS/Polk suggests that hybrid sales have reached a peak of market share and volume.

"It's a financial situation. The hybrid price premium is not offset by the gas savings, and consumers are making a rational decision," said IHS Automotive analyst Tom Libby. "The more gas prices stay static, the more consumers adjust and move back toward what they are more comfortable with."

Toyota Division General Manager Bill Fay still sees "a wider consumer acceptance of hybrid technology," based on Toyota's record 350,000 hybrid sales in 2013. But sales of Prius nameplate vehicles were down 1% last year, even though 4 vehicles now carry Prius badges.

"Although gas prices are not as high as they've been in the past, they are not low," Fay said. "In this higher-yet-stable gas environment, truck sales are up, which is evidence that consumers have shown increasing desensitization to higher prices."

Sales of alternative-fuel vehicles surged to 594,485 last year from 274,749 in 2010, more than doubling in 4 years, according to the Automotive News Data Center. But those gains came amid an overall market that has also grown sharply. Alternative-fuel vehicles include hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric and natural gas vehicles.

An IHS/Polk study showed that, while the number of hybrid nameplates on the market has increased to 47 vehicles, from 24 in 2009, segment market share compared with overall industry sales hasn't kept pace. In fact, hybrid share declined from 2009 to 2010 and has again from 2013 to 2014.

Hybrid sales have ranged from 1.5 to 4 percent of the market, depending on the month, but the trend line since 2010 has barely grown, from 2.5 percent then, to just above 3.5 percent now, according to IHS/Polk. Hybrid market share decreased during summers of 2010, 2011 and 2012 from the springs that preceded them. And only once have hybrids exceeded 4% market share.

AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan said the early reasons for buying a hybrid -- green cachet and carpool-lane access, among them -- are irrelevant now. As a result, he said, "hybrids are not all that compelling at the moment," though he added that if gasoline suddenly shot up to $6 a gallon, consideration would increase sharply.

"People have realigned their budgets to 4-dollar gas and they are making it work," Sullivan said. "We're not seeing so much, 'rah-rah, Mother Earth.' The Prius V has not come close to meeting sales expectations and the regular Prius is aging. Consumers are moving on."

AAA predicts the national average price of gasoline this summer likely will vary from $3.55 to $3.70 per gallon. But that won't be a big jump, historically speaking. Gasoline prices averaged $3.60 in June 2013, $3.50 in June 2012 and $3.68 in June 2011. The most expensive summer driving period was in 2008 when prices averaged $3.95 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline.

"Expect a feeling of deja vu with gasoline costing about the same as last summer," AAA spokesman Avery Ash said.

While the Prius had its best May sales in 2 years, that likely has less to do with a gasoline price surge than delayed purchases from a harsh winter, as well as some of Toyota's highest-ever incentives on the Prius: At $2,334 per unit, they were up 72% from last May, according to TrueCar research.

Erich Merkle, Ford Motor Co.'s chief U.S. sales analyst, still thinks there can be a causal relationship between gasoline prices and hybrid sales. But he says it's more about how fast pump prices rise than how high they go.

It's the frog-in-the-stove-pot metaphor: If the price of gasoline quickly shoots from $2.50 to $4 in a month, a flight to hybrids typically results. But if that same change happens over several months, people pay less attention.

Merkle also notes that standard internal combustion engines -- such as Ford's EcoBoost, Honda's Earth Dreams and Mazda's Skyactiv engine technologies -- are delivering improved fuel economy without expensive hybrid systems.

That makes the price premium for hybrids harder to justify. It also means that the next generation of hybrids will have to perform that much better to make their fuel economy gains impressive enough to stoke new interest, IHS's Libby said.

Another cloud over hybrids: Increasing public awareness that their real-world fuel economy numbers often aren't as good as the EPA estimates on the window sticker. Consumer Reports testing in 2013 showed that more than half of hybrids missed the EPA cycle result in real-world testing by more than 10 percent, compared with just 10 percent of conventional cars.

Meanwhile, online calculators show it can take 5 years or longer for gasoline savings to make up for the premium paid for a hybrid. For consumers who already see hybrids as a compromise in terms of performance, that may be too long a wait.

"While mpg remains an important purchase decision for consumers, there are other factors, like capability, that are driving strong industry sales," Toyota's Fay said.

If there is 1 place where hybrids are still hot, it's with urban taxi fleets.

"The taxi driver's business case makes zero sense unless they're driving a hybrid," said AutoPacific's Sullivan. "In city stop-and-go, a hybrid makes a big difference."

dom

Until the next big gas price hike......

vybzkartel

Thought that was a weekly thing?

kurtatx

I don't know. Would I rather have a car that gets 27 mpg and drives like a car, or would i like to get 43 mpg, pay an unrealistic premium, and have it drive like a ride on lawnmower?

We're not all enthusiasts, but I think a good portion of the population still wants a car that is enjoyable to drive.

oonowindoo

i really think this MPG crap is overrated.

If you put "us" in a Prius, we probably still can only get 28-30mpg
If you put Prius drivers in a Accord, they will probably get the 30-35mpg
It is more about the drivers than the car itself.

Of course unless your DD was a truck, then you will actually feel the difference.

fsttyms1

i get 14 mpg by myself and i get 14 mpg pulling my 4000lb boat/trailer. I dont see/feel the difference

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

That's true for Prius. But cars like the Fusion hybrid or Accord hybrid just drive like normal cars and are quite enjoyable.

It's really depends on how each car is setup. Most Toyota's are designed with ride comfort in mind. They are basically appliances. And that gets trickled down to their hybrids. As Toyota is arguably the most successful company in making hybrids, hybrids inevitably get the false impression that they are boring to drive.

However, there are many other not as popular hybrid models out there. Beside the affordable Fusion and Accord, you can get hybrids from Porsche, BMW, and even Ferrari or McLaren.

Good point. Though if you put "us" in a regular Accord, that Accord would probably be getting 15mpg.

oonowindoo

i get about 24mpg in my Accord. which i the same as my 335 and my s2000.

i get about 26 in my gf's civic.

Seriously, if you living in the City, you might as well forget about the whole MPG thing, cuz you are never going to get it.