szuberi

forsale...either you have some inside industry info that i dont or you are just doing a pep talk? the sales are not strong and they are under plan.

overall grwoth in the premium cars segment is growing (for alot of reasons...mainly low rate financing etc) so if acura is selling less...somebody else is selling more. that is my point.

ForSale

Acura dosen't have to sell itself, it has a client group that will buy acura no matter what. They compete through Honda.

MPR

I'm reminded of a picture they showed on an episode of top gear.

It showed a pile of dog poo with a bmw badge on it and at the bottom it said:
"you people will buy anything"






I tried to search the net for the pic but I couldn't find it anywhere.

07Ex

I'm sorry, but that must've been one of the funniest things I have read in a long time.

Going back to the topic at hand, I do agree with Sal about Acura and the fact that their cars look a bit dated compared to the competition. Not sure about you guys, but how many RLs did you see on the road. I've only seen a handful.
TLs and TSXs you see more of, but that's because they are more "affordable" than the RL. Still, compared to Infinity and Lexus, I find that Acura doesn't offer as many options/trims, and their prices are the same, if not higher.

What I didn't see in your review, Sal, is anything about Acura's SUVs. Not sure how they are doing with the SUVs, but lately I've seen a lot of their new SUVs on the road. That tells me that they must be selling these things, whether they are expensive or not, or whether it's to loyal Acura customers or not. I think that's where they're probably getting a lot of their profits, SUV sales.
All the new Acura SUVs I have seen on the road are driven by women, age 35+, married, with their big diamond rings, fur coats, and expensive shopping habits. I think that's where Acura makes their money, not the tuner scene.

J-SKI

Thanks for taking the time to inform us. good stuff.

ForSale

hahaha, i wish you find it.lol



hahah, its cool, bro, when i said all that i was making fun of it, it seems funny because indirectly its true.hehe.

HKS Power

To me, Acura is barely in the same boat as the other luxury brands. I think they are at the bottom of the Japanese luxury car class but it doesn't mean they are bad in any sense. I just think they don't have that real "luxury feeling" of the other brands. When I sit in any of the Acura models, I get this feeling I'm just sitting in a top of the line Honda Accord.

Another thing is with Lexus and Infiniti for example, they all offer RWD and AWD on most of their models. I am totally surprised these are not options on the TSX and TLs. One of the reasons may be to keep prices lower than the competition. Another perhaps is because Acura does not want to compete in the luxury sports sedan class in which Lexus and Infiniti are up against BMW.

Here are some price comparisons of two models for each brand. These are base MRSP.
ACURA
TSX - $36,200 205HP FWD
TL - $42,700 258HP FWD

LEXUS
IS250 - $31,900 204HP RWD
ES350 - 39,900 272HP FWD

INFINITI
G Sedan - $39,990 300HP RWD
M35 - $49,400 275HP RWD

Clearly, I see the Lexus IS250 is the best value for the money. Why would I get a FWD TSX for $4300 more? The IS250 has killer looks too. The TSX seems overpriced to me. I guess I was wrong about Acura having lower prices LOL!

szuberi

$31900 for the IS250 doesnt sound right

HKS Power

That's what I thought too, no way it's that cheap! Lexus did say they were cutting prices on all their vehicles due to the higher CDN dollar and the fact people were importing cars from the U.S.
Here is link for their base price.
http://www.lexus.ca/lexus/experience...s=is&year=2008

dt01

^^I was shocked to find this out too...then I went to the dealer, and it was true!! But this is a bare bones model with cloth seats. Plus, option packages raise the price alot. The dealer was also packed, and there were not enough sales people. My uncle got a car and his sales guy sold like 4 cars by 2 pm and people were in line to see him!!

ForSale

you guys make me laugh, how the hell, can you compare lexus with Acura, they are not in the same luxury leauge, lexus is ultimate luxury, Acura is just Luxury. Lexus is better then Bmw in luxury. you can't ever ompare lexus with Acura, thats comparing a green apple with a red apple, both are apples but both cater to different class of luxury buyers.

HKS Power

I agree with you ForSale and for the price Acura charges, why not go with Lexus? Some probably prefer the looks and reliability of Acura cars better. Alot don't know the difference of FWD and RWD and what their luxury car has.

If Acura or Honda rather decides to implement RWD into the TSX or TLs, I strongly believe sales will pick up VERY quick(HONDA, ARE YOU LISTENING?) But knowing Honda, they probably believe RWD cars are not good for North American climates. I hope Hyundai with their upcoming low priced Genesis RWD luxury coupe sway Honda towards RWD Acura sedans.

Doesn't Honda consider also how BMWs and Mercedes driver get through winter with their RWD cars? This is besides the fact I've seen alot of Bimmers this year stuck in the snow while my wife's Civic with winters blow past them, LOL! I have yet to see any Bimmers with steelies.

ForSale

^^^ i totally agree with you here, i think Honda/Acura needs to realise they can't keep increasing their prices because of their "reliability" factor its played out now, there's only a certain point we can stretch an elastic band too, before it snaps.

szuberi

the price factor is more an issue for acura. honda prices (as in honda civic and accord etc) are well placed according to the canadian market imo