Spies Have The CURE For Acura's Decline And The Solution To Rid The World Of The MISERABLE 'BEAK'

I kinda like the beak. It looks good on the TL.

I gave you guys that idea :)

All I will say is beak or not beak, Acura must be doing something right. 2012 sales are the best the brand has had since 2007 and increased over 2011 by over 30,000 units. And let's not forget that Acura stopped selling its lower-priced, higher-volume Integra/RSX in 2006.

I'm not familiar with the numbers, but a figure like this is not very significant out of context. What percentage growth are they experiencing? What is the total number of units they're selling? How is their market share trending?

Maybe this context of US sales changes from 2011 to 2012 will help you, Steve:

Make %Change from 2011 to 2012 Total Unit change
Acura +26.7% 123k to 156k = +33k
BMW +13.5% 247k to 281k = +34k
MB +11.8% 245k to 274k = +29k
Lexus +23% 198k to 244k = +46k
Infiniti +21.8% 98k to 119k = +21k
Audi +18.5% 117k to 139k = +22k

So, you can draw you own conclusions, but clearly, Acura's growth is more than respectable in the luxury segment. As you can also see, its growth was greater than either Infiniti or Audi, not to mention its market presence was greater than either for at least the past two consecutive years. Why do I mention this? Because the Agents here rarely, if ever, make disparaging remarks about anything involving either one of these makers' offerings or sales results, yet they still trail Acura, the company that seems to be on the bad end of the Agent's stick. I'm not saying that Acura hasn't made its shares of mistakes over the years, the too-closely-aligned RL and TL, the lack of an updated NSX, the discontinuation of any coupe, and the polarizing beak. But, all things considered, as you can see from the numbers posted, they're doing better than what one would perceive from the write-ups here. If I were someone who didn't follow the industry, just reading Acura-related articles here, i would think they were on the verge of implosion. Even 001's article states, "Before they become TOTALLY irrelevant".

Next year, as they fix the powertrain offerings of the ILX, continue with sales gains of the RDX, increase sales of the new MDX esp with the offering of FWD and AWD, and the RLX fulfills appropriate promises, they could experience a very substantial increase in overall sales. But I'm sure all the Agents will focus on is "the beak" and how it's been Acura's downfall. On that note, let me also mention something I've mentioned here before, but the Agents have never acknowledged: Acura's MDX experienced a 52% INCREASE in sales after it went to "the beak", and even in its last full model year, the MDX sales increased almost 18% last year. Beak and all.
Note: they also need to figure out marketing strategies for the TL and TSX.

Now, my final point. Considering the wider array of products offered by BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, of course one would expect their sales to be greater. Acura, Audi, and Infiniti offer somewhat more comparable model lines, though Acura may be slightly more limited than the other two. Yes, it has affected Acura's total market share without a doubt and it's one of the mistakes Acura has made over the years, especially not offering any coupe, a l

@ClevelandSteamer
i think you failed to look at how Acura has constantly eliminated its low priced cars. i do agree with you 100% that Acura's price point is lower than that of Audi and everything you list. but looking at their price strategy and you will quickly find out that they have killed their low end cars (integra), while constantly increase the price of their main lines (TL, MDX, RDX). yet they still enjoy a growth.

Sorry, it got cut off….

cont…. a large SUV, any convertible, a true flagship sedan, or a true halo car. Just one thing to consider. I would really be interested to know what a calculation would look like to see a Total Sales vs. Total Models Offered ratio.

The grille is a Japanese shield of honor. Dummies.

Clevelandsteamer, when you factor in all of the ridiculous leasing options at BMW, MB and now even Audi, price is irrelevant outside of the six-digit-priced cars. There's not a whole lot of difference in monthly payments when you lease anymore. Just a fact.

sales increases may be in reaction to a lot of wealthy people not being as wealthy any longer as economy went down, so maybe people still wanted luxury and opted for Acura over BMW or Benz, just a thought

Come on, Cleveland. Let's not split hairs here and let's be real.

You and I both know that, if there is an affordable lease for a kidney grille or a 3-pointed star, I'm going to spend for the kidney grille or the 3-pointed star. For shoppers in this segment, a $200/month difference between leasing a $53,000 (base) BMW 535i or a $35,000 (base) Acura TL is an easy decision. At the levels that Acura has had to drop its lease deals to try to compete, they are now in the budget-realm of many customers who wouldn't even consider a luxury mark. These buyers are likely to step into a Honda or Toyota dealership before even considering putting themselves into a luxury dealership.

It's not a coincidence why there are a plethora of 328i, 535i, C250s, and E350s on the road.

OK, your post didn't read that way.

I would agree with you that if Acura attempted pricing at that level, no one would buy them, not based on their current product offerings. They would, in effect, have to completely redo their product line. Acura continues to not want to be a Tier 1 luxury brand, which was their bread-and-butter approach to begin with. But, as I stated in my previous post, they'd had numerous strategic missteps along the way as has Honda. Honda/Acura has always taken a conservative approach. Despite its sporadic foray into niche markets, i.e., NSX, S2000, Del Sol, Element, they tend to focus on the substantial, volume-driven segments. This is for the good and the bad. The NSX and S2000 got people excited that Honda was finally breaking out of this shell and maybe going for the gusto. But, alas, hey backed off.

For me, I just wish that Honda would take Acura and go for the jugular, despite their success. And maybe this is really where the Agents frustrations are coming from. They've more than proven they can build great cars that can compete with anything on the road. They can still focus on their core cars they have today, which are great products. But let's get that NSX out sooner than later. Build that S2000 replacement and badge it an Acura and let it take the Boxster down like it did as a Honda. Build a large SUV to take on the MB GL. Offer larger engine choices across the range. Make SH-AWD standard across the board. Consider a performance arm like M or AMG or create performance models for each car, i.e., Type-R. Get back to making great coupes (and even bring the Prelude back to Honda).

Yes, "affordable luxury" is the appropriate tagline for Acura. But that's a good thing AND a bad thing. I live in one of the most affluent areas of our country and I see as many Acuras as I do the Germans and Lexus. So, Acura still has a solid reputation with the crux of the upper class. That's where I believe "affordable luxury" helps them. Where it hurts is in the middle-to-upper-middle class whose aspirations are to own a prestige make, at an affordable lease price. This is where even, I believe, Audi and even Infiniti, also fail to inspire buyers. These buyers go for BMW, MB, and Lexus.

It's interesting what you said about how Lexus overshadowed them and I couldn't agree more. I believe Lexus, whether knowingly or unknowingly, did it right by virtually cloning the styling of the S-class with their LS. This immediately created that connection of prestige for consumers, and it filtered down to the rest of the Lexus lineup. Now that their reputation is intact, they've strayed from that cloning for the past few models. The interesting part of it all is that Acura seems to be virtually cloning the profile of the 7 Series with their new RLX and appears to be stealing a page from the Lexus playbook.

Covering Acura/Honda designs generally: it is fortunate that the new MDX does not replicate the wheel arch design of the recent RDX. The large, flat wheel arches on the RDX copies other makers, but more importantly is already starting to look dated. So the MDX is spared that extra burden. Years ago, Honda was routinely praised for the high quality and clarity of its Speedometer/Tach, etc. One can only hope that on future Civic models Honda will return to their previous high quality and abandon the visually messy, gimmicky mixture of analogue/digital, multi-level driver-information areas.