Acura may return to two segments by adding a compact car and a coupe

I think Acura should introduce some styling passion into their line. Look what happened when Audi went from stodgy A4 to sultry A5.

In my opinion, if you make a gorgeous car, people will want it. Otherwise you need to stand out in some big (and positive) way to be noticed, like BMW's handling and brand mindshare, which will help you make your unit sales numbers even without being pretty (e.g., previous generation 5, 6, and 7)

sportsbike80: You must have missed the critically-acclaimed and awarded A5, to which I was referring. I make no claim that Audi's entire line embodies passion, which is what you are arguing against.

The Audi A5 looks too chunky.

Now we'll really get to see how far Acura has fallen design wise. You think the TL looks awful, just wait.

The only car worse than an Acura is that Lincoln SUV/whatever that looks like a funeral hearse.

Oh how quickly people forget the Pontiac Aztek, though the MKT is hideous!

Acura is rebranding this Civic variant because they realized that they are not BMW or MB. Before you start, Acura needs a more economical car to attract younger buyers. With their recent design language - the "beak" and the poor economy, Acura's brand is not attracting the foot traffic and customers Honda needs to keep Acura a viable brand extension.

Note to Acura:

A small car and a coupe are not enough to turn around your slide.

- introduce a fitting replacement to the Integra/RSX
- Have a base model start at no more than $17,500
- make the new coupe distinctive and sporty
- This means make sure there is a Type-S model
- Make sure it looks amazing and performs even better
- Make the BMW 3 series coupe & Infiniti G coupe your benchmarks
- get off your butts and introduce a true "halo" car
- Bring back the NSX

Integra with S2000 RWD platform. Like 10 years ago.

Now yer talkin'

Why would Acura make a car starting at 17k? they are hondas luxury brand, not an econo brand.

They would offer a $17k car to get people into their showrooms. Acura's most popular years were when they had a sub-$20,000 car. In America, it was called the Integra/RSX.

A Honda Civic based Acura. That would be the CSX from Canada with HIDs, leather, standard Acura treatments.

I am surprised you did not dig one up in your files and instead put up a Civic Si? Here is one for reference.

[img]http://www.enciclopedia.com.pt/images/acura_CSX.jpg[/img]

And there we have the problem. Acura is still trying to be an upmarket set of Hondas. They need to move away from that and be their own brand. They NEED rear drive. I don't care what they may think, a car even in the mid-levels of the luxury world cannot survive with front drive. I personally don't understand why, but it's just the snob appeal. Even Cadillac (the first luxury brand to go front drive) has almost abandoned it, with only one front drive car left in the stable. They also need to get rid of their current styling and design cars that are less quirky and more elegant. The last elegant Acura was the RL prior to the bird-beak raping.

cars are much more expensive now then they were back when the sub 20k integra was out. a ford focus cost more now than an integra did back then. maybe a 24k entry level sporty car similar to the integra