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You know LeBron James. But the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 prodigal son isn\u2019t the only 6\u20198\u201d sensation to come out of northern Ohio. Mat Hargett played\u00a0his high school basketball in Cleveland<\/a>\u00a0before\u00a0anchoring Ohio Northern University\u2019s defense for four years<\/a>\u00a0as a shot-swatting center. LeBron was drafted by native Cleveland. Hergett hung up his uniform and took an electrical engineering degree to\u00a0home Home-team Acura?<\/p>\n That a corn-fed, All-American boy from Ohio is development chief for Honda\u2019s luxury division tells you a lot about the sprawling global auto market. Like GM\u2019s German-based Opel division, Acura is an exclusive North American nameplate not sold in its parent company\u2019s home country. Acura headquarters are in California, while Ohio is home to Acura production.<\/p>\n Call it the United States of Acura. Long before Chrysler was \u201cimported from Detroit,\u201d Acura was \u201cimported from Ohio.\u201d It is a Japanese brand made in America, sold to Americans, run by Americans.<\/p>\n Like Hargett. The imposing, ex-hardwood star is the luxury maker\u2019s vice president for development in Raymond, Ohio. He works under another Midwest prodigy, Indiana-born, Purdue-trained,\u00a0Acura chief Erik Berkman<\/a>. The 23-year Honda veteran Hargett is the first electrical engineer to lead a product development team, guiding the superb 2015 Acura TLX to market this summer.<\/p>\n At the TLX\u2019s introduction in Bay Harbor, Michigan, I spoke at length with Hargett about Acura-merica.<\/p>\n \u201cIt goes back to Mr. Honda\u2019s philosophy that we have to manufacture cars in the countries where they are sold,\u201d says Hargett.<\/p>\n Upon graduation, Hargett was intrigued by the Japanese automaker. \u201cI was told that if you worked in Honda and had an idea for a new position that you could go straight to the president. I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he remembers. \u201c(It) was true. If you want to make a proposal it doesn\u2019t matter if you are Japanese or American. One journalist referred to it as \u2018controlled chaos\u2019 which I\u2019m not sure is the correct term. But there\u2019s not a lot of rank here.\u201d<\/p>\n Hargett\u2019s development of the Acura TLX began in 2009 as soon as his team finished the last generation TL.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew right away we were going to replace the car,\u201d says Hargett who began the TLX development process like a startup venture. It was just him and a sheet of paper. From his Ohio office outside Columbus, he began assembling a core team of designers, engineers, and technicians.<\/p>\n It made for long hours and travel to Acura\u2019s Los Angeles-area HQ. \u201c(It) was tough on my wife,\u201d he laments of the time away from family. But he was no stranger to long days after a collegiate career spent juggling an electrical engineering degree with a full basketball schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cI got made fun of a little bit on road trips because I\u2019d be studying on the bus until 1 AM,\u201d he recounts. \u201cAfter a three-hour practice every day … I\u2019d do a 7-to-midnight study kill in the library. Sometimes I\u2019d fall asleep and I wouldn\u2019t wake up until 2 or 3 in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n As the TLX project gained steam it also gained international scope. Auto production is an extraordinarily complex web of suppliers and assembly lines that spans continents and languages. The Acura was designed in L.A., its base 2.4-liter engine developed in Japan,\u00a0its 3.5-liter powerplant made in Ohio<\/a>, its 9-speed transmission developed by ZF in Germany, then … well, let Hargett explain:<\/p>\n \u201cThe transmission was then produced in South Carolina, assembled at our engine plant in Anna, Ohio, then transferred to final assembly in Marysville, Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is so much technology in the car that we can\u2019t do it all ourselves,\u201d he continues. \u201cBut I\u2019d say 95 percent of the work is done here. The TLX was developed in the U.S. by our team.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.intellitxt.com\/ast\/adTypes\/icon1.png\")
<\/a>\u00a0team Acura.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n