what the hell is an acura

what the hell is an acura

 

An expensive Honda automobile?

 

Huh? The Honda luxury brand?? You've got to be kidding.

 

Troll

 

"froglewis" wrote

Why a Duck?

 

we dont have acuras in the UK - WHAT IS IT

 

the Acura is honda's equivalent of the toyota lexus.

 

It's a Honda with a fancy nameplate. You know here in the US they market on
nameplate, not on quality. My '94 Integra sold as an Acura here, but I
understand they sold it as a Honda Integra in the UK.

 

ah right, cheers!

 

Think "Sterling".

UK Honda Legend = US Acura Legend = UK Sterling 27S(?) with burlwood trim.

In the US, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan all sell the upper end of their
product line at separate dealers. Mazda chose to sell the Millenia at
their regular dealers.

 

Acura is Honda's North American (NA) "upscale" brand. They seem to collect
various Honda models from around the world, put a little foo foo dust on
them and ta da, instant Acuras.

Some Acura models seem to be NA only derivatives such as the TL, which is an
upscale take on the Accord. Then there is the Acura TSX, which you know as
the Accord in the UK. Of course the NA Accord is a different car (but same
platform) then the Accord you know in the UK.

Two decades ago Honda, Nissan and Toyota all jumped on a bandwagon of
introducing upscale brands in the US to hit market points much higher than
their traditional products. These upscale brands are Acura, Infinity and
Lexus. Of the three, Lexus is by far the most successful.

John

 

In the '80s when the Japanese decided to sell up-market cars in North
America, they all collectively thought that we would not be willing to pay
extra for expensive Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans. Marketing studies
determined that consumers over here regarded the Japanese makes as
"economy" cars.

To get around that, they started separate, "luxury" nameplates for their
new cars. Toyota had Lexus, Honda had Acura and Nissan had Infiniti.

All the new cars were based on existing vehicles, but with nicer trim and
other refinements. Most were sold elsewhere in the world under the Toyota,
Honda and Nissan lines, but here were sold as Acuras, Lexuses and
Infinitis.

My Integra says "Acura" in just two places: The steering wheel boss and the
hatch lid. Everywhere else it says 'Honda". It's just a stretched Civic
with a bigger motor and was sold everywhere else as the Honda Integra.

In fact, when my factory workshop manual's diagrams depict the car's hood
(bonnet), it shows the Honda "H" badge instead of the Acura "A" that my car
actually came with.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda FAQ
http://www3.telus.net/public/johnings/faq.html

How to find anything on the Internet or in Usenet Groups:
www.google.com
www.groups.google.com

 

You do realize they don't sell Acura outside North America? Hardly a
troll.

 

I see you've had the expected replies from the US-centric crowd. Acura was
the first of the separates marques set up in the U.S. by Japanese mfrs to
sell premium, luxury models. I believe you have Lexus in the U.K. but sold
through the same dealerships as Toyota; here Honda, Nissan & Toyota all
have separate dealership networks for their respective Acura, Infiniti and
Lexus brands.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

In Canada some Lexus dealerships are twinned with Toyota ones.
http://www.dvnlt.com/

Acura and Infiniti are all stand-alones as far as I've seen.



--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda FAQ
http://www3.telus.net/public/johnings/faq.html

How to find anything on the Internet or in Usenet Groups:
www.google.com
www.groups.google.com

 

The Acura dealer where I live (in Arkansas) is also a Honda dealer, and they
used to share a parts and service center. But ordering parts for an Acura
still had to be done through the Acura computer.

 

What - in the same building complex? They must have changed the rules then
because when Acura was first started, there was a Honda rule that the new
Acura location had to be a certain min distance from any Honda dealership.
A lot of the Honda dealers were pissed because they thought they were going
to get auto-membership in a new cash cow for minimal outlay.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

When the opened the doors in 86 (which I don't remember) they shared a
building with the Lincoln dealer. Then a few years down the road they moved
in with the same owner's Honda dealer.

Now they have built one of those silly auto mall things and they are side by
side, but in different buildings.

 

me??


I agree, maybe I was a tad "short" with my answer and US-centric is probably
accurate in my case. However, it took only a minute to do a web search and
find some useful links regarding "what the hell is an acura". Instead, it's
taken a few days for this guy to get his explanations.

 

Perhaps not surprisingly, Lexus is also the most conventionally styled. Hmm.