Just a general question because for the past year around the Chicagoland area I've been seeing more new Nissan/Infiniti cars on the road than Honda/Acura.

Is Nissan/Infiniti becoming more popular than Honda/Acura now?
What are your thoughts?

 

You may see more Nissan/Infiniti cars on the road since they have more cars in their lineup than Acura/Honda

 

I think Infiniti is starting to > Acura...

 

not sure but i do like the 350Z and the G35 coupe....

 

About the same to me.

I see just as many Accords as I do maximas. Same goes with the TL/G35, RL/M35.

Only thing i see more of is the civic than the sentra.

 

Your eyes are decieving you Jesal.

YTD 2006:

Total Honda Sales are 778,527 vs Nissan's 529,737.

Honda trucks sales ae 347,915 vs Nissan's 261,335

216,159 Accords sold compared to 174,427 Altima's and Maxima's (39k) combined.

And of course Civic is 193,663 vs 73,660 Sentra's.

Acura outsells Infiniti 114,504 vs 68,439 (RSX I know)

TL sales are 42,601 comapred tp 33,343 G35's both sedan and coupe.

 

Wow, that's eye opening. Based on what I see on the road it seems about even.

Esp. the trucks. I see Frontiers all over the place, and I think the Titan would be more appealing than the Ridgeline to those who want a "real" truck. I guess I see my fair share of CR-Vs and Pilots, assuming they're counting those.

 

See, this proves people dont need RWD.

What else besides the TL is making acuras sales figures so much higher than infiniti?

The TSX or MDX? Would explain why Infiniti wants to release the G25 then.

 

While Nissan/Infiniti have made some gains, they have a LONG way to go in order to reach Honda/Acura sales levels.

Personally, I see far more TLs in my neighborhood than I see G35s and Maximas/3.5L Altimas. Same deal with the Odyssey vs Quest and Pilot/Ridgeline vs the Pathfinder/Xterra combo. The only segment where I see FAR more Nissans is with the 350Z (versus S2000).

 

Ridgeline 31,213 vs 44,528 Titans

106,815 Odyssey's vs 19,659 Quest's (Counts as Trucks)

90,236 Pilots vs 93,631 Pathfinders and Murano's combined

87,318 CR-V's vs 36,981 Xterra's.

6,932 RL's vs 15,421 M's

29,084 MDX's vs 19,346 FX and QX56's combined.

And if you take RSX sales away from Acura's total you're still at 102,000.

 

u just notice nissans and infinitis more than u notice the bland hondas and acuras =P

but no way are there more nissan/infiniti on the road than honda/acura.....i see a ton of the current TL everywhere

 

also they are gonna be more noticable because nissan/infiniti is having a clearance on all of it's 06's becuase some of the 07's are gonna be changed

 

The little TSX helps, but it's really the TL and MDX who are the torch carriers for the brand's sales volume.

I don't think it's necessarily products that even matter, but rather, brand perception. If you look at sales of the three Japanese luxury brands, it pretty much mirrors the perception that people have for the brands (ie Lexus>Acura>Infiniti).

A lot of people I know have never heard of Infiniti (I know, hard to believe) and some think Acura is a Honda model, not a separate brand. And don't even get me started on people misspelling Infiniti.

 

Depends on who you ask ... the average person will know Acura -- it's what set the Japanese 'luxury' make on the North American market. The luxury image of Lexus is far and beyond Acura + Infiniti combined.

Where I live, there is an Infiniti dealership but no Acura dealership. That's why now, there are many more Infinitis around town than Acuras. Fine by me -- every one looks at my car and has that, "what's that?" look on their faces.

But when I drive up to Toronto -- far more Acuras than Infinitis.

 

Brand perception

Lexus>Infiniti>acura

You know this between infiniti and acura because acura has a very hard time selling a car above 50k. That is where brand perception plays a big part. The TL sells so well because it is in its 2nd gen of success. The 2nd gen TL sold pretty well. With the 2nd gen G35. we'll see how it sells against the TL.

 

That's because Acura has at least five more extra models in Canada. lol

 

Proctor Acura sold 9 cars in the month of July. Prestige infiniti sold close to 200 cars. both local dealerships in Tallahassee. In Tallahassee Infiniti's outnumber Acuras about 10 to 1.

 

I see TL's left & right where I live. It's a very common car. I see at least 10 a day.
I see G35 sedans all over too.

I see it as Nissan/Infiniti is gearing more towards performance minded people & the Honda/Acura segemnt is gearing more towards smooth riding family, & gas friendly rides.

 

Damn, is that because of option for a V8 M45???? I'm too lazy to check, but how much for a M45?? I think the RL is still sitting around $50K

 

That's my perception

 

Perception is reality, but there are over 6 billion realities in our world.

 

What you see is that there are a whole lot more used Nissan on the road than Honda. That means Nissan lasts longer than Honda. I think. I see alot of old Nissan trucks around.

 

The brand perception has little to do with that. The RL is simply outgunned and outpriced by the competition - that's more an issue with the product itself, not only the brand's perception. It's a combination of brand perception as well as product. As much as people like to be cynical, you don't just slap a Mercedes badge on something and expect it to sell. Just look at the entry level C-Class.

 

That's because Honda doesn't have any old trucks...

 

I see a heck of alot more TL's then G35 sedans out on the road...

Suprisingly I haven't seen a brand new acura coupe in awhile

 

Think a lot of people will know the 'old' Acura before they know the 'new' Acura, thats Legend/Integra vs what they have now which is changing all the time.

 

The "EL" (aka Acura Civic) does account for a lot of Acuras up here in Canada. The CSX takes its turn as the Civic with leather interior today. Another reason for Acuras outnumbering Infinitis in Toronto is the high :desi: population (eg Brampton) ...


This is probably true to a certain extent. Acura has the 'value luxury' perception in Canada. And us Canadians are very frugal people yet brand conscious as the same time.

 

Don't hold your breath.

I seriously think Acura would have more street cred if at least the coupes had RWD, that is, if there are any coupes.

 

Come to Oregon, hardly any Infinitis and not too many Nissans. In terms of Japanese cars, Honda is king here, I see more Hondas than Toyotas.

 

i think a lot of it has to do with climate also...

with FWD and AWD, Honda and Toyota can penetrate pretty much any market since even FWD is sporty enough for most buyers. Only recently with stability control becoming more common has RWD started penetrating snow-prone areas, but even that hasn't done much for the "reputation" of RWD and snow. I know people who live where I live and wouldn't even consider anything RWD.

 

I see more Subarus here than Nissans and Infiniti combined

 

I see more G35s than TLs around here.

IMO if they went head to head in each category, Infinity > Acura and Honda > Nissan.

 

Aargh there it is again...Infinity...

 

I think Infiniti is becoming more popular that Acura, just more modern and cutting edge, but Honda will always reign over Nissan. The only thing Nissan has going for itself is the Z and the new Skyline, but that will be out of reach for the average Joe.

 

 

Infinity makes sweet speakers, way better than Honda.

 

I was about to say but then I realized that you are in Oregon (aka Vermont west). I imagine Forrester's abound there.


Although 04Euro does live in Chicago (a fairly snowy city, where he made his observation), that is a good point. That said, the VAST majority of Infiniti Ms and Gs that I have seen in central NJ are of the G35X and M35X variety. I cannot say for certain with the new Maxima and Altima but, I know just from having driven in the rain (only once or twice in 4 years) that my 02 Maxima is NO fun in inclement weather.

 

i've driven my M sport in 1/4" of snow...that was A LOT of fun, but not the good type.

i'm thinking of getting a dedicated set of rims and snow tires 'cuz i hear this winter is going to suck worse than last winter...eithe that or just get an old beat up jeep wrangler which should be a lot of fun in the snow!

 

 

My friend bought an M35x that hasn't seen snow , he says its too pretty so he drives the beater