What do you guys think?

Take into consideration that the RL is the worst selling car in most places and the TL is the best or better selling.

I think these two should switch places in the house of Acura. Or they could just scrap the RL and put more into TL.

Z

 

a car company's flagship car is not necessarily their best or best selling model.

the RL should not be scrapped though. it needs to undergo a major redesign that will significantly separate it from the TL.

 

i would take the 05-08 rl over the tl anyday

 

acura lineup needs a new face lift that doesn't have this... "shield"


and..

i bet moved to car talk.

 

I think the tsx is starting to take the top selling place with the current proportions and styling.

 

Flagship does not mean best selling car. So your theory is invalid.

The RL does not sell well because it is poorly marketed. That is the main reason. Comparing the RL to the E,5,a6 etc...you get much more bang for the buck..

maybe im biased

 

RL needs a v8, and it needs to loose the shield grill which in my mind is the worst looking out of the acura family of shield grills.

 

I saw an older RL at the dealer last wk. It was a beautiful car. I loved the lines, even better than my TL.

 

Moved..

 

:ibfacepalm:

 

another brilliant thought

 

Great thread bro, I had the tunamelt.

 

Until the looks and build quality improves on the TL, then we can MAYBE have this conversation. I recently had a TL as a loaner. I was shocked how terribly built the car is, and the sheer amount of plastic parts in the interior compared to the RL. It has some nice power, but I still find my '05 RL a much better car overall.

 

RL build quality is worth the extra coin over the TL

 

OP - have you ever driven the RL or do you make most of your car opinions and purchases based on looks and sales figures? Not trying to be rude, but both cars are great in their own right. That does not make the TL better by any stretch of the imagination.

 

This all day long.

In addition, The TL used to be Acura's bread and butter until they fucked up the exterior design and the Great Recession happened. Now the TSX is Acura's sedan bread and butter. The RL is still the flagship but Acura chooses to put zero marketing dollars toward it, and limits the number available to dealers....thus low sales. The RL has far superior build quality and interior luxury. The TL is meant to be more sporty, and is.

 

I'd have to agree to certain extent. It all depends on what you're looking for on your car. I wouldn't take RL over TL if I was looking for a sportier sedan. I would also consider TL for a higher resale value. Now... if I was looking for a sedan with luxury options, high technology and comfortable cruiser, RL would be my choice. And indeed I chose RL because that's exactly what I was looking for.

Back to OP's argument... as others have already said, flagship is not defined as most sales or best looking. The way I would define 'flagship' is a vehicle that can present core value/objective of the company in which this case... Acura presents technology advance and I believe RL has done a great job showing that.

 

Like everyone said, not the meaning of flagship and the RL is a great car IMO. I would have gladly taken the RL over my 05 TL but the TL met my needs at a price I could comfortably afford. Still love the 05-08 (or whatever now shielded years).

 

I think its inevitable since the RL may be dropped soon thus making the TL the sedan flagship. I do believe they are restarting the development of the NSX so that may be the new flagship. Am I correct?

 

RL is not being dropped, thats official.

 

I had a caribbean jerk.

This applies to me as well.

 

The Great Recession never ended homie, its still going on.

 

 

Flagship...I never defined it in my post, however I did allude to the definition. All that I was saying was that the TL should become the higher priced car, and the RL should become the next in line car. To say that my theory was flawed based on the definition of flagship is a misnomer.
Yes, I have driven all of them. I still prefer my 03 TL. I never liked the next year models after mine. Especially that crazy looking grill. Its also too bulky. I do like the technology and the get up and go power as always.
No, its not based on looks, personally I don't think that a lot of the other cars near the RL's class have anything on it in terms of technology. However, I would just spend a little more and buy the Audi, benz or beamer with the same or better technology and performance.

I am looking at the numbers only, because I've always liked the RL, and loved the Legend. Acura is a business, and you have to treat it as such. So to sum it all up...if you read what Im saying without all of the emotion, you would have seen that I'm saying to invest more into the TL to make it better and scale back on the RL. Then switch the lineup.

Personally I don't think that the recession has as great of an impact on car sales as some people think. In one of the worst recessions of the past, Lexus proved that the recession was not a factor. The RL only sold 33 cars in Canada in 2010. In the US it is one of the slowest selling cars at a year to date status of 1,728. The TL has a year to date status of 28,343.
From a business owner stand point...you cant ignore the numbers. Again, this is not about emotions or ill feelings about me for saying this. I really don't care, but the numbers don't lie. All of this information is available through Automotive News, Motorintelligence.com, and various other good sources.

Z

 

So would you argue to say Toyota should make Camry its flagship over avalon because it sells more??? I'm sorry but sale number does not define a flagship. I think that's where you're wrong in your argument.

 

Unless it's going racing, Honda seem to think a V8 is dark magic.

 

Tell that to the stock market which is on a roll.

 

IMO, the RL isnt selling is due to the fact that the TL has grown into if not equal in size with the RL, and prized less why not get the TL over the RL? Acura need to completely remake the RL into a large size vehicle so it can stand out and above acura'a lineup...