biker

In looks, yes, but in sales it doesn't seem so.

F23A4

Styling of the TL is a train wreck but the weight of the brand and model just may overcome its styling.....coincidentally in much the same way as the 7G Accord.

dom

Altima outsold Accord? Not good.

And for the first time in several years, the Civic lost its highest monthly sales crown and was outsold in Canada. By the Mazda 3 and Corolla.

YeuEmMaiMai

the new TL just plain sucks........in the looks department. in the feature department it is pretty nice though

TSX69

The probability of you losing your job is much like the political tracking poll - it could be very high one day and it can fall the next (okay we’re just kidding President Obama, sorry). American citizens are in fear and have been cutting back on spending their hard earned cash on costly items. Those looking for a new car are avoiding driving up to a car dealership and February auto sales, which were down to their lowest level in 40 years, are a perfect example.

In Detroit, GM reported the largest drop at 52.9 percent followed by FoMoCo at 48.4 percent. Chrysler was the better part of its to Detroit rivals with a drop of 44 percent.

Japanese automakers also reported a significant drop in February 2009 sales with Toyota reporting the largest drop at 39.8 percent followed by Honda at 38 percent. Nissan reported a decrease of 37 percent.

Subaru and Kia reported a gain of 1.4 percent and 0.4 percent respectively. Hyundai reported a drop of 1.5 percent.

GrayTSX05

why the sales figure on MDX is so bad? last year it sold over 4k, and now it sold like over 1k?? I think MDX is better value than X5, so why x5 outsold MDX though. anything to say here?

Costco

Screw GM. If they don't have the balls to stand up to the UAW they can go down in a ball of flames because it's ultimately going to be better for them in the end, rather than go on limping like this. The union is just a bad habit that needs to be kicked to the curb and left for dead.

Chrysler's sales have been dropping like a brick ever since they were taken over by Cerberus.... its so bad now that it can't get much worse, hence the "better" drop in sales compared to Ford and GM. Ford & GM's heavy reliance on huge ass SUVs and trucks isn't helping either. They need to work on building a better compact car, sports cars can only get them so far.

biker

In this segment, value only goes so far. If everyone bought on value alone, Genesis sales would go through the roof at the expense of 5 series and E class sales.

VTEC Racer

I think the MDX usually outsells the X5 normally. However, BMW was offering a good deal on the X5 in February (I think they are still offering it actually). 0.9% financing and BMW pays the first two months of payments. That was probably the biggest reason for the sales difference.

neuronbob

I'm hoping they don't go down in flames completely. I'm THIS close to pulling the trigger on a CTS-V, against my better judgement. That car is gonna be rarer than an RL soon, and there are discounts.

I'm surprised that the TL is holding its own. Who knew? I guess Acura brass DOES know what it's doing.

Costco

I guess you're right. Its one of my all-time favorite cars too, but I don't feel sorry at all for the position GM is in at the moment. If I cared any less about it I'd be wishing them ill.

cp3117

I was just as shocked as you Dom when i saw Honda/Acura's numbers in Canada for February. Here is a link for the canadian numbers...

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

Hopefully this was just a rare case because it looks like they are in a race with GM in the wrong direction.

luckyAKAhappy

I'm one of the reason. I'm trading in my MDX for the X5

TSX69

Honda's Acura MDX Celebrates Record Month

Honda's Acura MDX model, which is made in Alliston, celebrated its best-ever February sales, despite an overall drop in Honda Canada's sales during the same period.

Overall 990 Acura models were sold, down 31 per cent over last year. But of the 990 Acura models sold, 429 of them were Acura MDXs, representing nearly half of the total Acuras sold last month.

Last month, Honda's sales were down 42 per cent from February 2008 sales. Honda Canada Inc. reported sales of 7,041 units by its Honda and Acura divisions in February, which is a 42 per cent decrease over February 2008.

The Honda Automobile Division sales were down 43 per cent, with 6,051 units sold.

Aside from the MDX, the Alliston Honda of Canada Mfg. plants assemble the Honda Civic sedan and coupe and the Acura CSX.

The declining sales figures are having an impact on local Honda workers.

In December, Honda announced it intended to cut production at the two plants by 37,000 units by the end of March, the company's fiscal year end, by having non-production days. Earlier this year Honda also cancelled the afternoon shift at its Plant 2 facility and all Friday shifts at both plants, along with not renewing many of its contracts.

Canadian Pacific Railway has also reduced its services to the Honda plant. Rail services in Alliston have been scaled back, and local CP Rail workers affected are being redeployed in southern Ontario. Simcoe Parts Service, the just-in-time supplier to the Alliston Honda plant, has also scaled back shifts.

F23A4

I like the MDX but would take an E70 for the same money.....and if the N54 winds up in it, I'd pay the premium over the MDX. After driving the 4.8 model during a Bimmer event, it became my second favorite crossover SUV, just behind the ML63. That said, BMW's maintenance program is very attractive.

neuronbob

I 100% agree with you about GM's position. They have only themselves to blame, honestly. They are finally making decent cars, but it may be too little, too late. It's too bad.

If it looks like they're not shutting down by the end of the month, it's >50% likely I'll have a V in my driveway sometime in the next few weeks. If things look worse for GM, I certainly wouldn't want to forego warranty coverage to drive my dream car and I'll stick to my RL.

Costco

Nevermind........ GO GM!

dom

Whoa

Honda Canada strikes me as smug and overconfident. They didn't lower prices when the dollar went up and and their incentives aren't enough to peak interest. IMO Honda's are overpriced up here. The Civic is far too expensive as are all Acura's. They better wake up or the Civic is losing its crown for the first time in 8 years.

neuronbob

Oh damn. I reread my post and realized I didn't make sense there. Too tired, it's been a long week. Going to bed now.

nokiaman

I'm not surprised that the MDX is doing well, it's a terrific SUV. But 64k CAD for the Elite model is pushing it.

stright-(paint)balling

Honda sales aren't where i'd like em to be. I called down to Alabama plant which builds the Odyseey see how much inventory they had. they told me 8 or 9 months approx.
they(Alabama) already quit building 2009 Odyseeys. and it's only March.
they got Ridgeline and V-6 Accord. I didn't ask how many Accords or Ridgeline they got on lots.
Honda of Ohio had to rent 160,000 spot lot over at Columbus cause our Marysville,East Liberty and Marysville lot 2 is all full. however we're going back to 5 day work weeks for the month of March and April.
before we'd work 3-4 days, clean and pickup 1 or 2 days. ABSOLUTELY no overtime.
if there's any promise about this. once this economy picks up people will be buying cars like crazy. right now everyone trying to "ride out the storm" with what they got. so the cars they were planning on tradeing in 08 or 09 got 25-30k more than they projected when then what they wanted to trade or sell at. so i believe in a year or so (when the economy picks up) cars will be flying out of lots.

YeuEmMaiMai

lol at people thinking this is gonna end anytime soon....this is going to get loads worse.....

Black Tire

Acura has to go back to the basics for the TL. Look at what they did with the 99TL or the Vigor and apply that now. Good price and understated styling. The TL doesn't need all that HP and gadgets.

phile

This was the best designed TL, IMO. Proportioned just right, wasn't too flashy/gaudy.

RWalker2

My father has the same TL (albeit he hasn't washed it in years) and it still looks modern and classy on the road

subinf

2nd gen TL is a good looking car. Brother still has his. I prefer the 3rd gen though. Either way, both are so far ahead of the current pile of shit that Acura is making it isn't even funny.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I think the facelifted 2g TL looks even better lol!!

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

neuronbob

1/2 agree. The MMC 2G TL (which I had) had a nice grille but you're right, it was not too flashy, just understated and classy-looking. The 2G RL I own is more a spiritual successor to the 2G TL than the previous gen RL....in fact, some say that the 2G RL design (designed in Japan) was supposed to be the 3G TL and Acura rejected the notion.

The 3G TL that resulted was a looker in its own right.

Either is better-looking than the current TL.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

a comptech supercharged 2G RL is what I would really want - enough power, understated luxury, SH-AWD.....add the amuse kit, jdm conversion and some nice rims...that's all I need..

Edward'TLS

The 2G TL was crowned the best selling near-luxury sport sedan in North America year after year. But not for the 1G, nor the 3G, and obviously not a chance for the 4G. That says it all.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

not to mention it won the AJAC in Canada when it came out.

neuronbob

Hellz yeah. I would LOVE a supercharged 2G RL. That would keep me from drooling over a CTS-V (which I'm still on the fence about ordering even though I can get it for employee price! Is something wrong with me?) Too bad the market is too small to make a good go of it.

Theoretically, the CTSC for the TL could fit the J35, but the question is whether it would fit. We've had a few discussions about that in RL section in the past.

nokiaman

What would it come to with employee pricing?

Have you driven the car yet Bob? I'm sure it'll be everything you've been wanting plus some more, it won't disappoint you and you've been wanting it for a while now. It's a great time to buy a car right now. I know you work hard, now play harder.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Yea, 350hp or so with some decent amount of torque from the SC is what the RL really needs. I really like its styling anyways as well as its features. I'm still waiting for a good deal on a WDP model. For some reason, WDP is rare and whenever I find one it's quite a bit more expensive than others....hopefully by the time I can afford one, the SC will be available!

btw, get the CTS-V already and go out there and smoke some M5's!

F23A4

Even to this day, the 01-03 TL-S (particularly with the OEM ground effects pkg and rear spoiler) still catches my eye......



sometimes, I wonder why I leased my 07 AV6 when I could have purchased a well cared for used TL-S.

Viscous

No need to wonder my friend, all you need to remember is one word: transmission.

My vote goes to a 3g TL-S. Although the tailpipes are a little over the top, the rest of the package really catches my eye. It's a sweet car.

neuronbob

This was a rare miss by Honda. A glass tranny was definitely not planned for and they took WAY too long to deal with the problem.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

hehe who cares just do a 6MT swap! lol

neuronbob

I'm officially pulling the trigger and ordering this week if I can get a decent trade offer on my RL. I've been going back and forth for the last month about ordering a V2 in this bad economy and I just can't take it anymore. That car is the sickest car I've ever seen, touched, dreamed about. I can always come back to Acura and buy a used 2005-09 RL if things don't work out. Of course, my RL is likely worth squat right now as a trade-in and I'll probably end up driving it until the wheels fall off.

, perfect solution for a 2G TL!