Acura

Acura is a Japanese brand name used by Honda in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong since March 1986 to market luxury automobiles and near-luxury vehicles. The brand will be expanded to the Chinese market in 2006 and the Japanese domestic market in 2008. Acura is credited with creating or being the first to tap into a market for luxury Japanese cars outside Japan. Before Acura, automobiles from Japan were primarily economical and were seen as reliable above all else.

Other Japanese luxury brands (Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti) sprang up in North America shortly after Acura's introduction of the Legend, a V6-powered coupe and sedan, and the Integra, which was offered with a 4-cylinder engine only. Automotive journalists were impressed particularly by the Acura Legend.

In 1989, Acura introduced the NSX, a swoopy 276-hp two-door sports car. The NSX, an acronym for "New Sports eXperimental", was hailed as the first (and perhaps, to date, the only) Japanese car capable of taking on Ferrari and Porsche. The car's meticulously engineered quality and sterling reliability were icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, after this strong start, the mid- to late 1990s, Acura's model line-up became less and less inspiring and consequently, sales suffered. During this time, Acura switched to an alphanumeric formula for nomenclature. The 1996 3.5RL, which replaced the well-loved Legend, was seen by many as the epitome of Acura's new-found blandness. Its sluggish 210-horsepower V6 (later bumped to 225 hp) and front-wheel drive, together with anonymous styling that cautiously aped the larger, more powerful and more engaging Lexus LS400, did little against more prestigious, attractive and faster offerings from BMW, Audi, and Lexus, among others. Even the swoopy NSX lost sales as Acura barely changed the car from its original 1989 trim.

Despite these letdowns, Acura did gain prominence in the 1990's with a younger group of people, the import tuner set. Parent company Honda's reputation as a maker of easy to tune and rev-happy engines with this demographic rubbed off onto Acura, and the Integra became a popular tuner car. This reputation has continued to this day, especially with the new RSX and TSX (see below.)

In the early 2000s, Acura refreshed its line-up, arguably beginning with the introduction of the MDX, a popular three-row crossover SUV based on the Honda Odyssey minivan. The MDX replaced the slow-selling SLX, which was little more than a rebadged Isuzu Trooper. The MDX was a car-like and fun-to-drive crossover SUV with little off-road capability that catered smartly to the demands of the luxury SUV market. It was given top honors by Car and Driver in its first comparison test against seven other SUVs. Other cars in Acura's line-up during this time included the 3.2 TL, 3.2 CL, RSX (formerly the Integra), and the supercar, the NSX.

A new TL debuted in 2004, equipped with sharp, Italianate styling and a 270-hp V6, and available with a 6-speed manual transmission led to a dramatic increase in sales for Acura. The same year, Acura introduced the TSX, a European-market Honda Accord loaded with features, as a cheaper alternative to the BMW 3-series. This model became the only 4-cylinder sedan in Acura's line-up, replacing the Integra sedan. A new RL debuted in 2005, this time with a 300-hp V6, more exciting styling, and innovative Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD), a system capable of sending almost all of the RL's power to just one wheel in a turn.

Acura's new models—particularly the RL and TSX—have been well received by the motoring press. However, with the US Big Three recently (re)introducing sport sedans with rear wheel drive and V8 engines, some predict that Acura (who is the only Luxury manufacturer not to offer V8s and along with Saab is the only one to use FWD exclusively) may need to rethink it's design philosophy once again.

In the future, Acura will introduce the RDX, a smaller SUV set to feature the RL's SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive). It should debut in mid-2006 as a 2007 model.

And while the slow-selling NSX has been discontinued for the 2006 model year, Acura has promised a redesigned model sometime in 2007 or 2008.

History

• 1990
  • Acura dealerships in the US win their fifth consecutive first-place ranking on the Customer Satisfaction Index by J. D. Power and Associates. Acura announces that it will expand research and development in US.

• 1991
  • The Acura Legend coupe wins Motor Trend's prestigious Import Car of the Year trophy.
  • Honda's revolutionary VTEC technology is introduced in the NSX.
  • Acura is introduced in Hong Kong by Reliance Motors.

• 1997
  • The Integra Type-R is introduced.

• 2001
  • The MDX wins the prestigious Motor Trend "2001 Sport/Utility of the Year" award.

• 2003
  • TSX is introduced as replacement for the Integra sedan. Integra, first introduced in 1986, was long overdue for a redesign. TSX becomes very competitive choice against popular BMW 3-series.

• 2004
  • Acura is introduced in Mexico by Honda de Mexico.
  • 3rd generation Acura TL is introduced and immediately becomes the best selling luxury car in America.

• 2005
  • The new Acura TL wins "Consumer's Most Wanted Vehicle" at Edmunds.com
  • Acura RL is introduced with revolutionary SH-AWD system

• 2006
  • Acura will be introduced in China.
  • Acura RDX will be introduced with SH-AWD

Future models

• 2007 RD-X compact crossover SUV

Current models

• MDX (crossover SUV)
• RL (full-size sedan)
• RSX (sports coupe)
• TL (mid-size sports sedan)
• TSX (mid-size sports sedan)
• CSX (compact sedan) (replacement for the Acura EL, only available in Canada)

Discontinued models

• EL (compact sedan; only available in Canada)
• Integra (sports coupe and sedan, replaced by the RSX and the TSX)
• Legend (luxury sedan and coupe, replaced by the RL and CL)
• Vigor (mid-sized sedan, replaced by the TL)
• CL (luxury coupe, replaced by the Honda Accord EX V-6 Coupe)
• SLX (SUV, replaced by the MDX)
• NSX (exotic coupe)

Timeline

1986

The Acura brand is introduced to North America by Honda.

• Models sold:
  • Integra (new)
  • Legend (new)

1987

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend

1988

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend

1989

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend

1990

New 2nd-generation Integra introduced.

• Models sold:
  • Integra (new 2nd-generation)
  • Legend

1991

New Vigor model added to Acura's line-up. New 2nd-generation Legend introduced. New NSX model introduced.

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend (new 2nd-generation)
  • NSX
  • Vigor (New)

1992

Minor update to 2nd-generation Integra.

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend
  • NSX
  • Vigor

1993

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend
  • NSX
  • Vigor

1994

New 3rd-generation Integra introduced.

• Models sold:
  • Integra (New 3rd generation)
  • Legend
  • NSX
  • Vigor

1995

New 2nd-generation Vigor introduced as TL.

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • Legend
  • NSX
  • TL (new) (2nd-generation Vigor)

1996

New SLX SUV model introduced. (Not sold in Canada) New 3rd-generation Legend introduced as the RL.

• Models sold:
  • Integra
  • NSX
  • TL
  • RL (new) (3rd-generation Legend)
  • SLX (USA only)

1997

New EL (based on Civic sedan) is introduced. (Canada only) New 2-door coupe TL introduced as CL.

• Models sold:
  • CL
  • EL (new) (Canada only)
  • Integra
  • NSX
  • TL
  • RL
  • SLX (USA only)

1998

Integra receives a minor update.

• Models sold:
  • CL
  • EL (Canada only)
  • Integra (generation 3.5)
  • NSX
  • TL
  • RL
  • SLX (USA only)

1999

New 2nd-generation TL introduced.

• Models sold:
  • CL
  • EL (Canada only)
  • Integra
  • NSX
  • TL (New 2nd generation)
  • RL
  • SLX (USA only)

2000

No CL model for 2000.

• Models sold:
  • EL (Canada only)
  • Integra
  • NSX
  • TL
  • RL

2001

New 2nd-generation CL coupe introduced. New MDX luxury SUV introduced. New 2nd generation EL model. (Canada only)

• Models sold:
  • CL
  • EL (New 2nd-generation) (Canada only)
  • Integra
  • NSX
  • MDX
  • TL
  • RL

2002

New 4th-generation Integra introduced as the RSX. NSX is updated.

• Models sold:
  • CL
  • EL (Canada only)
  • MDX
  • NSX (minor update)
  • TL
  • RL
  • RSX (new) (4th-generation Integra)

2003

• Models sold:
  • CL
  • EL (Canada only)
  • MDX
  • NSX
  • TL
  • RL
  • RSX

2004

New 3rd-generation TL introduced. New TSX sports sedan introduced. Minor update to 1st-generation MDX.

• Models sold:
  • EL (Canada only)
  • TL (new 3rd-generation, still based on North American Honda Accord)
  • TSX (European Honda Accord)
  • MDX (Minor Update)
  • NSX
  • RL
  • RSX

2005

New 2nd-generation RL introduced. RSX receives a minor update.

• Models sold:
  • EL (Canada only)
  • TL
  • TSX
  • MDX
  • NSX
  • RL (new 2nd-generation)
  • RSX

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