Say What? Acura Blames Focus On Lexus And Infiniti For Losing It's Way

...Ikeda said that Acura’s messaging went down the wrong road as rivals like Lexus and Infiniti emerged as serious rivals..

Maybe Infiniti emerged as Acura's serious rival, but Lexus? Lexus has always been miles ahead of Acura

Not if you remember that Acura was the first Japanese automaker to create a premium/luxury division. The original Legend made quite a splash when it debuted. For several years Acura had a big head start and then Lexus and Infiniti arrived and overtook them.

I wouldn't say always. When there was a Legend, Vigor and Integra, Acura was way more popular and Lexus and Infiniti. When they killed off the Legend and Integra, they started to go down hill. The 3rd Gen TL and whatever gen that CL was started to bring them back a little. When they killed the CL, RSX and came out with the 4th gen TL and whatever that RL was, was the beginning of the end. Even the MDX couldn't save that mess.

Acura lost its identity when it dropped the Legend. While the Legend was never able to compete against the German and later the Lexus LS, it had its own place in history. I had a chance to drive (not own) both the Legend and the LS in their first year and was quite fond of both of them, but more so for the Legend. When they changed the names and styling, Acura no longer impressed me (although I liked the 2nd gen CL Type-S enough to recommend it to my brother who still drives it after 17 years).

LMAO, so they are going to pull a donnie dotard and blame others for their failures.

Not sure how they are blaming others. They are blaming themselves for being focused on others instead of themselves and their strengths as a company.

Why do we have an Acura brand in the US? Why don't we just have a more respectable Honda lineup?

Acura suffers from not knowing what an Acura is, looking to others to define itself. A loosing play in humans and cars alike. Define yourself and be true to yourself.

Acura started brilliantly with the Integra and Legend but quickly forgot its core market and the product line diversified into the Vigor and other forgettable offerings. Then came the beak...

If Honda was using Acura to chase Infiniti that would be the work of idiots given that no one takes Infiniti seriously and the dismal sales prove it.

If they were chasing Lexus, where's the excellence? Lexus is taken seriously because it is a serious player.

You can say they chased Audi given the heavy reliance on FWD and run-of-the-mill AWD pasted in to attempt to mask the FWD handling drawbacks. Yet "quattro" sounds like something but "Shawd" sounds asinine. When the first two words of the acronym are "super handling" it comes off as Wayne's World.

Acura's issue was that it set out to be Japanese premium luxury and then decided to become the Japanese Mercury.

Shawd does literally nothing that any other AWDS system doesn't also do. So, yes, it's run of the mill.

And you're a blind Acuraboy for falling for their BS. If Shawd is so impressive, why aren't Acuras impressive handlers, because they aren't "super handling" by any stretch of the imagination. All Shawd does is make the steering feel heavy and the handling numb. Compare it to quattro and is fails miserbly.

Acura was once relevant as the first (and only) Japanese luxury brand. Today, they're seen as around mid-market. They don't compete against the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Audi, or Lexus. Even their new NSX II is proving to be a flop in terms of sales or acting the part of a halo car.

Acura has definitely lost its way. Good thing their management has recognized that.

Acura, where are the products to support your claim that you lost your way because of Lexus and Infiniti? I couldn't write that without laughing. Infiniti? Really? You "killed" the best car the in your line up TL and merged it with the ILX and we got the TLX. And you never replaced the Legend.

I still can't identify your brand's message, is it sport, luxury? If you are going to follow someone pick the best MB. Pick a poison and create a product that represents your vision not a derivative of another brand.

The problem with Acura is they don't have enough money to bring out world class products.

Legend was a damn fine looking and driving carThe Integra GSR? was very sporty. Damn SAV craze is ruining the fun car market to a degree.

Acura/Honda lost it when they shamelessly rebaged a Isuzu SUV as their own product. Acura SLX. Just slapped new logo's on a Trooper.