Should Companies Such As Acura Even Be Striving To Become A Tier 1 Luxury Brand?

If you follow the luxury segment of the automobile business then you know that the best and most powerful brands are those considered to be “Tier 1.”  They represent the largest volume brands in the segment, have the most loyal customers, command the highest margins, have the highest resale values, are the best defined, are the most prestigious and the most desirable.

Every Tier 2 brand aspires to be in Tier 1.  Audi set the target years ago to become a Tier 1 brand and some would say that it has achieved that goal.  More recently Cadillac has made no bones about the fact that it wants to be a Tier 1 brand and has set it sights on BMW.  Infiniti is striving to make it into Tier 1 and Jaguar would like to return.  The fact remains that only three brands have achieved the volume, credibility and prestige to be true Tier 1, everyone else is Tier 2:

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_43LE - 8/11/2011 11:39:58 AM

+6 Boost

FYI, Acura dropped its Tier 1 aspirations a long time ago.

Agent009 - 8/11/2011 12:06:17 PM

-7 Boost

they picked them back up a few months later.. but then again they could have dropped them again.

bmwdrvr - 8/11/2011 11:54:03 AM

-1 Boost

Acuras are nice car but its hard to view them as a luxury brand to me they sorta rest somewhere between mainstream vehicles and luxury brands. Its clear on many levels that Acura has given up the fight with BMW, Lexus and Mercedes their brand seems to be confused as to what they are trying to convey and seems to lack focus and direction in general.

Agent009 - 8/11/2011 12:06:57 PM

-3 Boost

You summed it up with "lack Of focus"

theoptimisticpessimist - 8/11/2011 1:29:06 PM

+1 Boost

Bentley and Rolls Royce = Ultra Luxury.

theoptimisticpessimist - 8/11/2011 1:32:26 PM

0 Boost

Look the three most arrogant car companies out there are,

1. Porsche
2. BMW
3. Honda (Acura)

Acura aspires but only on its own terms, no RWD, no V8, and no real Flag ship car. Honda doesn't get the teir on luxury market and probably never will. Acura is the new Saab.

poot66 - 8/11/2011 9:32:07 PM

+1 Boost

because luxury cars should either be RWD or AWD. Why are you asking stupid questions.

JUGNU - 8/11/2011 4:14:40 PM

0 Boost

Acura cannot be in Tier 1 because unlike it's competitors like BMW, Mercedes, Lexus...etc it is not present outside America.

JRobUSC - 8/11/2011 4:50:01 PM

0 Boost

By that logic Lexus wouldn't count either. Lexus technically does sell cars outside North America, but sales are miniscule (if I remember correctly the number of Lexus's sold in the U.S. each year is more than the combined total of all Lexus's sold everywhere else in the world.). As a brand Lexus didn't exist outside the U.S., even in Japan, until 2005. Lexus is the #4 luxury brand worldwide because of the U.S. market, the #3 brand (Audi before this year, possibly Benz now) sells roughly twice as many vehicles worldwide as #4 Lexus. In other words, if there are three global Tier 1 brands, Lexus isn't one of them. Lexus would only be one if you leave out the rest of the planet.

poot66 - 8/11/2011 9:49:29 PM

+3 Boost

Short answer is if the don't they might as well not even make cars. If they strive for number 1 they may not make it but they won't fall too far behind if they strive or even just settle for 2 they might as well quit. Like every company Acura has things to work on(admittedly a little more than others) but the industry can change in the blink of an eye and I think Hyundai has proved that. All they need is a little direction and an opportunity and they could be #1 period at least in America. Just one hot model(like Infiniti did with it's G35) and Lexus continues its regression and just build from there it doesn't take much.

cohwang - 8/12/2011 2:56:43 AM

+1 Boost

I won't consider Acura is a luxury brand because most cars are designed and manufactured in North America. A Japanese brand with too much American taste would kill its image. Plus the craftmanship and quality of material are not on par with the German made and Japanese made rivals. I can easily see a misaligned door on RDX and MDX. The plastic trims are not fit tightly.......... There are so many American images in there......

2ndbimmer - 8/13/2011 11:06:09 AM

0 Boost

They should strive for excellence. Why settle? Why settle for anything in life? You should always strive to be the best you can be.
They are lost. They dont know what they are doing and their cars are getting worse. The only unit they sell is the MDX. Only because of price point as well. If they lose that, they are doomed.

TheGenius - 8/13/2011 2:01:24 PM

+1 Boost

Auto perspectives???? who the hell are these guys that have no clue abut cars and clearly live in a cave lacking access to publicly available information? spies, opinions are opinions, but you guys should know better than post articles from dumb writers. Can't even begin to discuss the weak viewpoints and half baked insights..