{"id":20554,"date":"2017-05-16T17:51:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T21:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=20554"},"modified":"2017-05-16T17:51:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T21:51:00","slug":"acura-makeover-returns-brand-to-its-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/acura-makeover-returns-brand-to-its-roots","title":{"rendered":"Acura makeover returns brand to its roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"With<\/p>\n<\/div>

To jumpstart stalled sales, Honda\u2019s luxury brand is defying the trend toward robotic cars and returning to the sporty, driver-focused image that inspired Acura\u2019s birth three decades ago. That strategy includes the second coming of its Acura NSX supercar, a return to racing and the introduction this summer of a restyled performance sedan, the TLX A-Spec, based on the Precision concept seen at last year\u2019s Detroit Auto Show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are reinvigorating as a performance brand,\u201d said Acura Vice President John Ikeda in Louisville recently at a media test program for the A-Spec. \u201cThat is where our heritage is, and we kicked off the Precision concept to get that image back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acura debuted in the U.S. market in 1986 as the first Japanese luxury brand. Its early success inspired premium divisions from Toyota (Lexus) and Nissan (Infiniti). Acura\u2019s reputation was built on the Legend and Integra sedans, and the innovative NSX supercar which launched to rave reviews in 1990 with Acura\u2019s first V-TEC (variable valve timing) engine and an all-aluminum body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the brand came out it was a breath of fresh air. It was completely different,\u201d says Ikeda, who, as a talented young designer out of Los Angeles\u2019 Art Center College of Design, joined Acura in 1989. \u201cIt was the first luxury brand coming out of Japan. It really intrigued me to pack up everything and move to Tokyo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acura sales in the U.S. peaked at 209,610 units in 2005 and haven\u2019t come close since, with sales at 161,360 last year. Meanwhile, rivals like Audi have tripled their sales (to 210,213) since 2005, and Lexus now sells more than twice as many vehicles as Acura.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A changing market brought more demand for SUVs, and Acura tried to change with it. Acura abandoned its NSX halo car and performance variants while adopting a more premium-looking design language.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were doing really well in 2005, but somewhere we stopped making the NSX, we stopped racing, the Type-S\u2019s went away,\u201d says Ikeda upon reflection. \u201cAnd then the market crashed in 2008. At that that point you have moment of self-reflection. There were some pieces that were fundamentally missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those pieces, Ikeda believes, is the young culture that attracted him 30 years ago. \u201cThe people were so youthful \u2013 they had so much energy and passion,\u201d says the Acura veteran. \u201cYou have to believe and be that to make that.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in 2015 Acura returned to its roots by unveiling the second-generation NSX and naming Ikeda as vice president for North America.<\/p>\n

IHS Automotive senior analyst Stephanie Brinley says Acura and Mazda \u2013 which has its own halo sports car, the MX-5 Miata \u2013 are pursuing similar strategies as throwback, pilot-focused brands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an environment of ride-sharing and autonomous vehicle development, it\u2019s interesting that these two brands are going back to being driver-oriented,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Acura\u2019s reboot also dovetails with parent company Honda\u2019s renewed emphasis on performance. Criticized for ditching its sporty vibe in the pursuit of retail sales leadership in the volume SUV (Honda CR-V) and sedan (Honda Accord) segments, Honda made waves last year with an Audi A3-baselined extreme makeover of its Honda Civic compact \u2013 including the introduction of the ferocious 300-horsepower Civic Type-R to the U.S. market.<\/p>\n

Ikeda says Acura should be a logical step up for thousands of Honda customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Civic is a great, but at some point the customer wants more. We have to be there for those people,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s an obvious transition from Honda to Acura performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The influence of the NSX on the reinvigorated Acura brand is telling. Like the 1990 original, it focuses on innovation \u2013 bringing exotic, hybrid-driven tech to market for hundreds of thousands less than similar Porsches and Ferraris. Acura\u2019s new slogan, \u201cPrecision Crafted Performance,\u201d even echoes its 1986 tagline, \u201cPrecision Crafted Automobiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNSX is the halo car. And with it we\u2019re going back to racing,\u201d Ikeda says of the supercar\u2019s entry this year in the highly competive IMSA GTD series against rivals like Porsche, Lexus and Audi. \u201cIf you\u2019re not racing, you\u2019re just playing around. It sets you up for the A-Spec because it gives it validity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The A-Spec is a wicked-looking variation of Acura\u2019s entry-level TLX all-wheel drive sedan. Though its upgrades are largely cosmetic (mechanical changes are limited to gripper tires and a sportier suspension), Ikeda strongly hints it\u2019s a steppingstone to a Type-S badge that will get more power and technology like Audi\u2019s S-line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are doing what they can in the mid-cycle update for the TLX,\u201d says HIS\u2019s Brinley. \u201cThey are taking the opportunity to set things up for sportier models down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also channeling the NSX\u2019s claim as America\u2019s \u201caffordable\u201d supercar, the TLX will be the U.S. market\u2019s most affordable, V-6 powered luxury sedan at $36,200. Every car will come standard with a suite of safety-assist systems as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity<\/p>\n

Made in Marysville, Ohio, alongside the NSX, the new TLX and TLX A-Spec hit dealerships in June accompanied by a new ad campaign. The so-called \u201cWow\u201d campaign throbs with modern music, features healthy doses of the halo NSX, and is designed to reach young buyers through smartphones and social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To jumpstart stalled sales, Honda\u2019s luxury brand is defying the trend toward robotic cars and returning to the sporty, driver-focused image that inspired Acura\u2019s birth three decades ago. That strategy includes the second coming of its Acura NSX supercar, a return to racing and the introduction this summer of a restyled performance sedan, the TLX […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20555,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20554\/revisions\/20555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}